PRMSE and catechol efficiently reduce biofilm formation at sub-lethal concentrations
WEDNESDAY, April 22, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Phenolic-rich maple syrup extract (PRMSE) has antimicrobial activity and demonstrates strong synergic interactions with selected antibiotics, according to research published online March 27 in Applied and Environmental Microbiology.
Noting that phenolic compounds are promising candidates as complementary therapeutics, Vimal B. Maisuria, Ph.D., from McGill University in Montreal, and colleagues examined the antimicrobial activity of PRMSE.
The researchers found that PRMSE demonstrated antimicrobial activity and showed strong synergistic interaction with certain antibiotics against Gram-negative strains of Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Catechol demonstrated strong synergy with antibiotics and with other phenolic components of PRMSE against bacterial growth. PRMSE and catechol efficiently decreased biofilm formation at sub-lethal concentrations, and increased bacterial biofilm susceptibility to antibiotics. PRMSE increased outer-membrane permeability of all bacteria strains and inhibited efflux pump activity effectively. PRMSE was found to repress multiple drug resistance genes in transcriptome analysis, and repressed genes linked to motility, adhesion, biofilm formation, and virulence.
“Overall, this study provides a proof-of-concept and starting point for investigating the molecular mechanism of the reported increase in bacterial antibiotic susceptibility in the presence of PRMSE,” the authors write.
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