In vitro antibacterial effect of wasp (Vespa orientalis) venom

Abstract

BackgroundThe emergence of antibacterial resistance against several classes of antibiotics is an inevitable consequence of drug overuse. As antimicrobial resistance spreads throughout the globe, new substances will always be necessary to fight against multidrug-resistant microorganisms. Venoms of many animals have recently gained attention in the search for new antimicrobials to treat infectious diseases. Thefore, the present study aimed to study the antibacterial effects of wasp (Vespa orientalis) crude venom.Two gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis) and two gram-negative ones (Escherichia coli and Klesiella pneumonia) were compared for their sensitivity to the venom by determining the inhibition zone (Kirby-Bauer method) and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). A microbroth kinetic system based on continuous monitoring of changes in the optical density of bacterial growth was also used for determination of antimicrobial activity.ResultsThe venom exhibited a well-recognized antimicrobial property against the tested bacterial strains. The inhibition zones were determined to be 12.6, 22.7, 22.4 and 10.2 mm for S. aureus, B. subtilis, E. coli and K. pneumonia, respectively. The corresponding MIC values were determined to be 64, 8, 64 and 128 μg/mL, respectively. The MIC50 and MIC90 values of the venom were respectively determined to be 63.6 and 107 μg/mL for S. aureus, 4.3 and 7.0 μg/mL for B. subtilis, 45.3 and 65.7 μg/mL for E. coli and 74.4 and 119.2 μg/mL for K. pneumonia. Gram-positive bacteria were generally more sensitive to the venom than gram-negative ones.ConclusionsResults revealed that the venom markedly inhibits the growth of both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria and could be considered a potential source for developing new antibacterial drugs.

Antibacterial properties of snake venom components

“…Recent studies prove that many venoms and venom components produced by different venomous animals show potential antibacterial activity. These include snake (Perumal Samy et al 2007;Al Ahmadi et al 2010;Ferreira et al 2011;Perumal Samy et al 2014b), spider (Haeberli et al 2000;Budnik et al 2004;Kozlov et al 2006;Benli and Yigit 2008), scorpion (Conde et al 2000;Torres-Larios et al 2002), honeybee (EL-Feel et al 2015;Leandro et al 2015) and wasp venoms (Jalaei et al 2014).…”

Identification of the Molecular Determinants of the Antibacterial Activity of LmutTX, a Lys49 Phospholipase A2 Homologue Isolated from Lachesis muta muta Snake Venom (Linnaeus, 1766)

“…In recent years, the search for new antimicrobial agents from natural sources has intensified, such as those from microorganisms , algae , plants , along with anuran , scorpion , spider , wasp , bee and snake venoms that would constitute an important treatment alternative against innumerable emerging or non‐emerging infectious diseases that afflict society.…”

New RP-HPLC Method for Separation of Naja haje haje Venom and Studies of its Bactericidal Effect

“…However, crude venom has no effect on Gram-negative E. coli most probably due to different bacterial cell wall. Fazeli and coworkers as well as Li and coworkers [34,35] showed that antibacterial activity of crude venom of scorpion and wasp is most probably due to cationic net charge proteins or peptides, which interact with anionic components of bacterial membranes resulting in irreversible damage to the cell.…”