[1] Clinical interest in synergism dates back to the early 1950s when practitioners noted that patients with enterococcal endocarditis experienced a high relapse rate when penicillin G alone was used for treatment and a demonstrably lower relapse rate when streptomycin was combined with penicillin G to combat the infection.
Today, combination therapy is recognized as providing a broad spectrum of antibiotic coverage, effectively fighting polymicrobial infections, minimizing selection for antibiotic resistant strains, lowering dose toxicity where applicable, and in some cases providing synergistic activity.
At the patient level, the boosted antimicrobial potency provided by synergy allows the body to more rapidly clear infections, resulting in shorter courses of antibiotic therapy.
A classic example of this effect is the interaction between β-lactams, which damage the bacteria cell membrane, and aminoglycosides, which inhibit protein synthesis.
[4] The third direction of research involves combining traditional antibiotics with unconventional bactericides such as silver nano particles.