Therapeutic Efficacy of Halocidin-Derived Peptide HG1 in a Mouse Model of Surgical Wound Infection with Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

We evaluated the therapeutic potential of HG1, an antimicrobial peptide, as a novel topical antibiotic by the use of a mouse surgical wound model of infection with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. First, we attempted to determine whether or not HG1 infiltrated into the dermis when topically administered. Second, we evaluated the antibiotic effects of HG1 on skin infection via bacterial-enumeration and microscopic analyses. The results showed that topically administered HG1 was capable of penetrating into the dermis at the infection site, where it exerted its antimicrobial effects. As has been asserted in many clinical infection management studies, rapidly emerging antibiotic-resistant microbes pose a serious threat to the treatment of skin and soft tissue infec-tions. Over the past 2 decades, the cationic antimicrobial pep-tide (AMP) has been regarded as a promising candidate for use as a novel antibiotic capable of coping with a broad variety of recalcitrant pathogens. In evaluations of this antibiotic as an alternative to existing therapeutic options for the topical treat-ment of superficial infections, it has been well established tha