A method of reducing microbial load in or on tissues other than intact, healthy skin, comprising:
- identifying a tissue site other than intact, healthy skin;
- and
- administering an antimicrobial pharmaceutical composition to the tissue in an amount effective to at least partially reduce a microbial load;
- wherein said antimicrobial pharmaceutical composition comprises:
- an aqueous carrier;
- and
- at least one antimicrobial synthetic cationic polypeptide dispersed in the aqueous carrier at a concentration in the range of about 0.01% to about 5% by weight based on the total weight of the antimicrobial pharmaceutical composition;
- wherein the at least one antimicrobial synthetic cationic polypeptide comprises at least one cationic segment with a plurality of positively charged amino acid units at neutral pH and at least one hydrophobic segment with a plurality of hydrophobic amino acid units;
- wherein the cationic segment has a length of about 20 amino acid units to about 400 amino acid units;
- wherein the hydrophobic segment has a length of about 5 amino acid units to about 60 amino acid units;
- wherein the ratio of the length of the cationic segment to the length of the hydrophobic segment is from about 1.5 to about 15;
- wherein the at least one antimicrobial synthetic cationic polypeptide at a concentration of 2 wt % in deionized water has a viscosity at room temperature of 2 centistokes (cSt) or greater;
- and
- wherein the at least one antimicrobial synthetic cationic polypeptide displays surfactant activity in deionized water at room temperature at a concentration of 1 wt %, as measured by a decrease in surface tension of at least 10% as compared to deionized water alone.