Abstract

Objective: To analyse the antimicrobial activity of the peptide PsVP-10 against 67 resistant Enterococcus faecalis strains isolated from clinical samples. Methods: The qualitative disc diffusion method and MIC determinations were used. Results: The presence of several multidrug-resistant phenotypes of E. faecalis was demonstrated, in which there were high MICs to chloramphenicol, tetracycline, vancomycin, cefaloridine, ampicillin and gentamicin. In comparison, the peptide PsVP-10 showed lower MICs against all the multidrug-resistant and susceptible E. faecalis. Conclusions: There is an urgent need for the development of novel antimicrobial agents against the highly resistant E. faecalis. The present study shows that the peptide PsVP-10 might make a contribution to the solution of this serious problem.