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Analysis of institutional authors

Giralt, ErnestAuthor

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September 4, 2025
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In Vitro and In Vivo Characterization of Novel Cathelicidin-Based Peptides with Antimicrobial Activity Against Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Publicated to: Antibiotics. 14 (8): 838- - 2025-08-19 14(8), DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics14080838

Authors: Moreno-Morales, Javier; Martin-Vilardell, Nuria; Guardiola, Salvador; Vila-Farres, Xavier; Cebrero, Tania; Babic, Marko; Balleste-Delpierre, Clara; Kalafatovic, Daniela; Giralt, Ernest; Pachon-Ibanez, Maria Eugenia; Vila, Jordi

Affiliations

Barcelona Inst Global Hlth ISGlobal, Barcelona 08036, Spain - Author
Barcelona Inst Sci & Technol BIST, Inst Res Biomed IRB Barcelona, Barcelona 08028, Spain - Author
Hosp Clin Barcelona, Dept Clin Microbiol, Barcelona 08036, Spain - Author
Inst Salud Carlos III, CIBER Infect Dis CIBERINFEC, Madrid 28029, Spain - Author
Univ Barcelona, Fac Chem, Dept Inorgan & Organ Chem, Barcelona 08028, Spain - Author
Univ Barcelona, Fac Med & Hlth Sci, Dept Basic Clin Practice, Barcelona 08036, Spain - Author
Univ Rijeka, Fac Engn, Rijeka 51000, Croatia - Author
Univ Seville, Univ Hosp Virgen Rocio, Spanish Natl Res Council CSIC, Inst Biomed Seville IBiS, Seville 41013, Spain - Author
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Abstract

Background/Objectives: Infections caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) Pseudomonas aeruginosa are steadily increasing, thus the discovery and development of new and effective agents are needed. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are a heterogeneous group of innate defense system peptides with broad antimicrobial activity. In this study, 17 AMPs were tested, identifying CAP-18, a cathelicidin-based compound, as the most active. CAP-18 was optimized by synthesizing structural derivatives, which were selected for further studies based on their activity against a collection of MDR and colistin-resistant P. aeruginosa strains. Methods: AMPs collection was initially tested against different P. aeruginosa strains, identifying CAP-18 as the most active. CAP-18 derivatives were synthetized and assessed by the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC), time-kill kinetics, cytotoxicity against human cell lines, hemolytic activity, and therapeutic index (IC50/MIC90). The mechanism of action was assessed by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), and in vivo efficacy was determined through a murine skin infection model. Results: CAP-18 and D-CAP-18 had a MIC90 of 4 and 2 mu g/mL, respectively, whereas CAP-1831 and D-CAP-1831 presented MIC90 values of 16 mg/L. The shorter derivatives of CAP-18 showed a lower activity. Time-kill curves revealed a fast bactericidal effect. These derivatives showed low toxicity against different human cell lines and low hemolysis, resulting in a wide therapeutic index (IC50/MIC90), with D-CAP-18 having the best therapeutic index (137.4). TEM provided insight into the mechanism of action, revealing bacterial membrane damage. In vivo studies of both CAP-18 and D-CAP-18 showed good activity with a 3 log decrease compared to the infected control group. Conclusions: Among the investigated four peptides, D-CAP-18 is the most promising candidate to treat skin infections caused by MDR P. aeruginosa since it shows potent activity both in vitro and in vivo, and a high therapeutic index.

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Antibiotics due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2025, it was in position 17/137, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Infectious Diseases.

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-12-13:

  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 2 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

    It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

    • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.

    Leadership analysis of institutional authors

    This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Croatia.

    Awards linked to the item

    IS Global (CEX2018-000806-S) is a recipient of a Severo Ochoa Award of Excellence from MINECO (Government of Spain). ISGlobal acknowledges support from the Generalitat de Catalunya through the CERCA Program. This work was also supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III [Carlos III Institute of Health] (PI20/00766) and award 2021SGR01569 from the Agencia de Gestio d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca of the Generalitat de Catalunya [Agency for Management of University and Research Grants of the Catalan Government]. DK and MB were supported by the Croatian Science Foundation (UIP-2019-04-7999 and DOK-2021-02-3496). This publication is based upon work from COST Action CA23111, supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology).