Peptide‐like substances as antimicrobial barriers to Corynebacterium sp. adhesion to silicone catheters

Aims: To show medical application of antimicrobial peptides such as Pep5 and epidermin in inhibiting adhesion of Corynebacterium spp. to silicone catheters. Methods and Results: The inhibitory activity of crude preparations of Pep5 and epidermin was tested on Corynebacterium spp. isolated from catheter‐related infections. The addition of these substances at 640 AU ml−1 to a cell suspension of Corynebacterium sp. 633544 resulted in a decrease of 3 log cycles in the number of viable cells over a period of 12 h. When Pep5 and epidermin were added to in vitro catheter colonization experiments, there was a decrease of 1 log unit (P