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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Antimicrobials, Resistance and Chemotherapy
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1468682

Outer membrane permeability of MCR-positive bacteria reveals potent synergy of colistin and macromolecular antibiotics against colistin-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii

Provisionally accepted

    The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

      Colistin (CT) is the last-resort of antibiotic against multidrug-resistance (MDR) Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii) infection. However, colistin resistance is increasingly reported in A. baumannii isolates partially due to the global emergence and dissemination of plasmid-borne mobile colistin resistance (mcr) gene and is a threat to human health. Thus, available treatment strategies urgently required in the fight against colistin-resistant A.baumannii. Here, we showed that mcr confers damaged outer membrane (OM) permeability in A. baumannii, which could compromise the viability of A. baumannii. Consistently, A. baumannii with colistin resistance exhibits increased susceptibility to macromolecular antibiotics such as rifampicin (RIF) and erythromycin (ERY). Moreover, the combination therapy of colistin and rifampicin demonstrates efficacy against colistin-resistant A. baumannii, regardless of the presence of mcr. Altogether, our data suggest that the synergy of colistin in combination with macromolecular hydrophobic antibiotics poses a promising therapeutic alternative for colistin-resistant A. baumannii.

      Keywords: Acinetobacter baumannii, Colistin, rifampicin, MCR, outer membrane (OM) permeability

      Received: 22 Jul 2024; Accepted: 31 Oct 2024.

      Copyright: © 2024 . This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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