Assessment of the Antibacterial Efficacy of Halicin against Pathogenic Bacteria

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a new technology that has been employed to screen and discover new drugs. Using AI, an anti-diabetic treatment (Halicin) was nominated and proven to have a unique antibacterial activity against several harmful bacterial strains, including multidrug-resistant bacteria. This study aims to explore the antibacterial effect of halicin and microbial susceptibility using the zone of inhibition and the minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) values while assessing the stability of stored halicin over a period of time with cost-effective and straightforward methods. Linear regression graphs were constructed, and the correlation coefficient was calculated. The new antibacterial agent was able to inhibit all tested gram-positive and gram-negative bacterial strains, but in different concentrations—including the A. baumannii multidrug-resistant (MDR) isolate. The MIC of halicin was found to be 16 μg/mL for S. aureus (ATCC BAA-977), 32 μg/mL for E. coli (ATCC 25922), 128 μg/mL for A. baumannii (ATCC BAA-747), and 256 μg/mL for MDR A. baumannii. Upon storage, the MICs were increased, suggesting instability of the drug after approximately a week of storage at 4 °C. MICs and zones of inhibition were found to be high (R = 0.90 to 0.98), suggesting that halicin has a promising antimicrobial activity and may be used as a wide-spectrum antibacterial drug. However, the drug’s pharmacokinetics have not been investigated, and further elucidation is needed.

Halicin Is Effective Against Staphylococcus aureus Biofilms In Vitro

“…Biofilms complicate the treatment of orthopaedic infections by protecting bacteria from the host immune system and many antibiotics. Halicin was recently found to have potent activity against the planktonic cultures of many bacterial species, including S. aureus [1, 7, 48], and those findings were confirmed in our study. Importantly, halicin was effective against proliferating and quiescent bacteria [48].…”

“…Another limitation is that our study focused exclusively on a single bacteria type. However, the possible generalizability of our results is supported by previous findings that halicin has potent activity against planktonic forms of many bacterial species, including multidrug-resistant representatives of both gram-positive and gram-negative species [1,7,48]. Nonetheless, future studies should test the effects of halicin on the biofilms of other bacterial species, including multidrugresistant bacteria.…”

Halicin remains active against Staphylococcus aureus in biofilms grown on orthopaedically relevant substrates

“… 21 , 22 Halicin also has broad-spectrum activity against planktonic cultures of many Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, including multidrug-resistant clinical isolates. 20 , 37 Halicin is the first completely novel antibiotic identified by deep-learning artificial intelligence approaches. 20 Follow-up studies revealed that halicin has potent broad-spectrum activity, but the antibacterial mechanism of halicin remains uncertain.…”

CORR Insights®: Halicin Is Effective Against Staphylococcus aureus Biofilms In Vitro

“…In this study, the authors test a new substance previously reported by Stokes et al [8]; figuratively, a computer selected and assembled this very innovative and promising antibiotic, halicin, from many substances that exploit the weaknesses in bacterial defenses. Halicin is the first of a new generation of antibiotics, and although it has not yet been tested in patients, new perspectives are opening up for better treatment of patients with biofilm infections and multidrug-resistant pathogens [2]. Next steps might seek to exploit recent successes in biofilm research to develop next-generation antibiotics, to better simulate in vitro the effects of antibiotics on bacteria and biofilms under laboratory conditions.…”