Synergistic treatment of linoleic acid and cefazolin on Staphylococcus aureus biofilm-related catheter infections

Staphylococcus aureus is a human pathogen that causes severe infections through biofilm formation. S. aureus biofilm is particularly susceptible to catheters in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis. Although antibiotics are used to treat catheter infections, high-concentration treatments adversely affect human host immune systems and change the physicochemical properties of the catheters. To improve therapeutic outcomes without side effects, we combined antibiotics and natural products. In this study, we propose a combination of linoleic acid (LA) and cefazolin (CFZ) to treat S. aureus infections synergistically and apply it to catheter environments and in vivo systems. LA is a polyunsaturated fatty acid derived from natural products, and CFZ is a major antibiotic used to treat S. aureus catheter-related infections. The optimum synergistic condition was determined using silicon pad-forming biofilm similar to catheter materials. S. aureus biofilms were considerably inhibited in vitro and in vivo owing to the improved antibacterial effects. Furthermore, the combination negatively regulated the chemokine levels in the peritoneum, kidney, and liver extracted from mouse models. Moreover, it did not affect the cytotoxicity of human omentum mesothelial cells and the functions of the kidney and liver. Therefore, the combination of LA and CFZ could be a potential synergistic therapy for S. aureus catheter infections.