Effect of Coptis chinensis on Biofilm Formation and Antibiotic Susceptibility in Mycobacterium abscessus

Abstract

Mycobacterium abscessus infections are notoriously difficult to be treated and newer treatment options are required. Coptis chinensis (C. chinensis) and its main compound berberine are frequently used to treat bacterial and viral infections. In this study, the susceptibility of M. abscessus to C. chinensis extract and berberine was assessed by minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) evaluation. The effects of C. chinensis and berberine on biofilm formation and antibiotic susceptibility in M. abscessus were observed. C. chinensis at concentrations of MIC (1.5 mg/mL) and 2 × MIC (3.0 mg/mL) and berberine at ½ × MIC (0.125 mg/mL) demonstrated a strong inhibition of biofilm formation. Concentration of C. chinensis at ½ × MIC resulted in a significant reduction in MICs of trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (TMP/SXT), clarithromycin (CLA), and linezolid (LZD). Similarly, ½ × MIC berberine had a significant effect on the MIC reductions of nine antibiotics including TMP/SXT, CLA, and LZD. Notably, the resistance level MIC of LZD against M. abscessus was reversed to a susceptible level by treatment with either C. chinensis or berberine. Therefore, C. chinensis and berberine have the potential to produce a synergistic antimycobacterial effect, reduce biofilm formation, and decrease antibacterial resistance to LZD in M. abscessus.

Study on Masking the Bitterness of Chinese Medicine Decoction-Mate

“…e research team conducted a strict screening of recruited volunteers, including the sensitivity to bitterness, among other traits. Inclusion criteria were as follows: (1) As bitterness perception decreases with age, adults around 20 years old were selected [20]; (2) ere could be no history of severe allergies, genetic disease, cholecystitis, drug or alcohol abuse, and no recent history of the disease. Exclusion criteria included the following: (1) People who had consumed alcohol or smoked in the last 2 days; (2) People who were too nervous; (3) Volunteers were screened on their reactions to a lemon-yellow aqueous solution that contained no bitterness: volunteers who reported a bitter taste were excluded; (4) People who had eaten within 3 hours before tasting the solution, especially food that had a strong avor.…”

“…Most traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has an associated bitterness. TCMs such as Citrullus Colocynthis [1], Coptis chinensis [2], and Sophora flavescens [3] contain active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) as well as alkaloids [4], glycosides, and flavonoids, which have an especially unacceptable bitterness [5], while TCMs such as honey [6], jujube [7], and hawthorn [8] accounted for a smaller proportion of TCMs with an acceptable taste. ese characteristics lead to the poor taste of the final preparation, which seriously restricts the application of TCMD.…”

Genomic profiling of WRKY transcription factors and functional analysis of CcWRKY7, CcWRKY29, and CcWRKY32 related to protoberberine alkaloids biosynthesis in Coptis chinensis Franch

“…Coptis chinensis belongs to the Ranunculaceae family and is primarily distributed throughout Southern China, specifically in the Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan, and Guizhou Provinces. The rhizomes of Coptis chinensis (“Huanglian” in Chinese) are a traditional herbal medicine used to treat infectious and inflammatory diseases ( Tseng et al, 2020 ; Yang et al, 2021 ; Tseng et al, 2022 ; Yan et al, 2023 ). The primary active ingredients in C. chinensis include protoberberine-type alkaloids such as berberine, palmatine, tetrahydropalmatine, coptisine, jatrorrhizine, and columbamine ( Liu et al, 2016 ; Tan et al, 2016 ; Wu et al, 2019 ; Li et al, 2021 ).…”

Targeted inhibition of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus biofilm formation by a graphene oxide-loaded aptamer/berberine bifunctional complex

“…Berberine, an isoquinoline-type alkaloid extracted from Coptis chinensis (Huanglian in Chinese), has been widely used to purge intense heat and remove toxicosis, and it has anticancer, anti-arrhythmia, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory effects (Wang et al., 2017 ; Song et al., 2020 ; Poopedi et al., 2021 ; Rauf et al., 2021 ). Recently, berberine has also been used as a novel agent against a number of pathogenic microorganisms and their biofilms, such as S. aureus , Salmonella typhimurium , and Mycobacterium abscessus (Tseng et al., 2020 ; Bhatia et al., 2021 ; Xu et al., 2021 ). However, few studies have focused on the mechanisms of biofilm formation prevention, especially in the QS system.…”