Polymyxins were discovered in the 1940s and used to treat infections caused by gram-negative bacteria. These molecules act destroying cell membrane through destabilization of phospholipids lipopolysaccharides (LPS). Due adverse effects, such as nephrotoxicity neurotoxicity, this class had seen limited use. However, with evolution antimicrobial resistance commercial drugs, use polymyxins has res...

INTRODUCTION Polymyxins have become the drug of choice for treatment of multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacilli infections in Singapore, simply because these pathogens are only susceptible to either aminoglycosides and polymyxins, or polymyxins only. Furthermore, there is no new antibiotic in the pipeline that targets these difficult-to-treat infections. MATERIALS AND METHODS All published ...

In the face of diminishing therapeutic options for the treatment of infections caused by multidrug-resistant, Gram-negative bacteria, clinicians are increasingly using colistin and polymyxin B. These antibiotics became available clinically in the 1950s, when understanding of antimicrobial pharmacology and regulatory requirements for approval of drugs was substantially less than today. At the 1s...

BACKGROUND Multi-drug resistance among Acinetobacter baumannii increases the need for polymyxins. We conducted a meta-analysis aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of polymyxins for the treatment of Acinetobacter baumannii infection. METHODS We searched PUBMED, EMBASE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), CNKI, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database up to November ...

The emergence of multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacteria and the lack of new antibiotics to combat them have led to the revival of polymyxins, an old class of cationic, cyclic polypeptide antibiotics. Polymyxin B and polymyxin E (colistin) are the 2 polymyxins used in clinical practice. Most of the reintroduction of polymyxins during the last few years is related to colistin. The polymyxins ...

Bacitracin and the polymyxins are polypeptide antibiotics. They are relatively toxic drugs and have had only limited use in chemotherapy until recently. Vancomycin, a glycopeptide, although not without side effects, is widely used.Teicoplanin is a new glycopeptide antibiotic that may be beneficial against certain infections caused by gram-positive organisms. The mechanisms of action of this gro...

Multidrug resistance in pathogens is an increasingly significant threat for human health. Indeed, some strains are resistant to almost all currently available antibiotics, leaving very limited choices for antimicrobial clinical therapy. In many such cases, polymyxins are the last option available, although their use increases the risk of developing resistant strains. This review mainly aims to ...

BACKGROUND The increasing problem of infections due to multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria has led to re-use of polymyxins in several countries. However, there are already clinical isolates of Gram-negative bacteria that are resistant to all available antibiotics, including polymyxins. METHODS We present a case series of patients with infections due to pathogens resistant to all antimi...

Polymyxins B and E1 and gramicidin S are bacterium-derived cationic antimicrobial peptides. The polymyxins were more potent than gramicidin S against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, with MICs of 0.125 to 0. 25 and 8 microg/ml, respectively. These peptides differed in their affinities for binding to lipopolysaccharide, but all were able to permeabilize the outer membrane of wild-type P. aeruginosa PAO1 ...