Synergistic Antimicrobial Effect of Colistin in Combination with Econazole against Multidrug-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii and Its Persisters
Miaomiao Xie, Kaichao Chen, Edward Wai‐Chi Chan, Sheng Chen
Abstract
Findings described in this study constitute concrete evidence that it is possible to significantly enhance the antimicrobial activity of colistin by using an antifungal drug, econazole, as a colistin adjuvant. We showed that this drug combination can kill not only multidrug-resistant A. baumannii but also the tolerant subpopulation of such strains known as persisters, which may cause chronic and recurrent infections in clinical settings. The synergistic killing effect of the econazole and colistin combination was also observable in mouse infection models at a very low concentration, suggesting that such a drug combination has high potential to be used clinically. Findings in this study therefore have important implications for enhancing its clinical application potential as well as developing new approaches to enhance treatment effectiveness and reduce suffering in patients.