Anti-Biofilm Effect of Melittin Peptide on Clinical Isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Isolated from Hospital Burn Infections

Biofilm is accumulation of microorganisms that are attached to a surface and they are coated with extracellular polymeric materials. Sometimes biofilm can be considered as a strategy that some microorganisms use to prevent harmful effects which are maintained in the natural environment and the host body. The purpose of this study was to evaluate antibiofilm effect of melittin peptide on clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from nosocomial burn infections.

In this study, the rate of biofilm reduction and biodegradation kinetics of melittin on Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm were measured by microtiter plate crystal violet assay. The lack of growth in the MHA (Molar Hinton Agar) medium and decreasing in wavelength indicates the effect of melittin peptide on Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm.

The results showed that melittin was able to degrade the biofilm within 2 hours and killed the embedded bacteria. Melittin inhibited or eliminated all bacteria at the amount of 4 and 8 μg while at 50 μg biofilm layer was destroyed and all bacteria within the biofilm were killed after 24 and 48 h.

The results of this study are valuable while they increased the hope for treatment of pseudomonas associated infections in third degree burns patients.