Synergic interaction between pomegranate extract and antibiotics against Staphylococcus aureus

Abstract

We evaluated the interaction between Punica granatum (pomegranate) methanolic extract (PGME) and antibiotics against 30 clinical isolates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA). Susceptibility testing of the isolates to PGME and antibiotics was performed by the broth dilution method. Synergic activity was detected between PGME and the 5 antibiotics tested, chloramphenicol, gentamicin, ampicillin, tetracycline, and oxacillin, ranging from 38% to 73%. For some isolates, PGME did not interfere with the action of any of the antibiotics tested. The bactericidal activity of PGME (0.1 x MIC) in combination with ampicillin (0.5 x MIC) was assessed using chosen isolates by time-kill assays, and they confirmed the synergic activity. Using this combination, cell viability was reduced by 99.9% and 72.5% in MSSA and MRSA populations, respectively. PGME increased the post-antibiotic effect (PAE) of ampicillin from 3 to 7 h. In addition, PGME demonstrated the potential to either inhibit the efflux pump NorA or to enhance the influx of the drug. The detection of in vitro variant colonies of S. aureus resistant to PGME was low and they did not survive. In conclusion, PGME dramatically enhanced the activity of all antibiotics tested, and thus, offers an alternative for the extension of the useful lifetime of these antibiotics.

Effect of ethanolic extract of Ecballium elaterium against Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans

“…In order to assess the effect of combinations of ethanolic extract and antibiotic, the MIC values for antibiotic were determined to be as a reference point for defining the interactions [26] . Synergistic effects resulting from the combination of antibiotics with various plant extracts have been studied earlier against MRSA or MSSA [27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41] . From this study, ethanolic extract of E. elaterium fruits is very efficient in treating infectious diseases caused by MRSA and may also helpful for treating diseases caused by C. albicans.…”

“…Exposure to light was avoided to prevent the loss of effective ingredients. Approximately [30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40] g of dried material were mixed thoroughly with magnetic stirrer in 200 mL of 80% ethanol at room temperature and the mixture left for 24 h. The insoluble materials were removed by centrifugation at 10 000 rpm for 10 min at 4 曟. Then, the extract was evaporated to dryness at 37 曟.…”

Assessment of mutagenic and antimutagenic effects of Punica granatum in mice

“…Antitumour (Afaq et al, 2005;Lansky and Newman, 2007), antibacterial (Prashanth et al, 2001;Braga et al, 2005;Menezes et al, 2006;Aqil, Ahmad, 2007), antidiarrhoeal (Das et al, 1999;Mathabe et al, 2006), antifungal (Dutta et al, 1998Vasconcelos et al, 2003;Vasconcelos et al, 2006), antiulcer (Gharzouli et al, 1999), and antioxidant pharmacological properties have been reported for various extracts/constituents of different parts of this plant species. Recently, the antioxidant activity of P. granatum associated with its phytochemicals, such as, polyphenols, flavonoids, and anthocyanidins has gained importance (Faria et al, 2007;Guo et al, 2007;Kulkarni et al, 2007;Mirdehghan et al, 2007;Reddy et al, 2007;Rout, Banerjee, 2007;Sestili et al, 2007;Zaid et al, 2007).…”

Evaluation of Antimicrobial Property of Extract of Punica Granatum (L.) on Oral Pathogens

“…3 Punica granatum exhibits antibacterial action through bacteriostatic and bacteriocidal effect. 4 Research has also proved that the presence of ellagitannins and punicalagin is to be responsible for the antibacterial effect and the peel is often reported to be more effective than the seed extract. [5][6] However, studies related to antimicrobial activity of the P. granatum extract on most common human oral pathogenic microbes which persist in the oral cavity are scanty.…”