The synergy of berberine chloride and totarol against Staphylococcus aureus grown in planktonic and biofilm cultures

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is commonly associated with hospital-acquired infections and is known to form biofilms. Bacteria inside biofilms display an increased resistance to chemotherapeutics and host immune defences. Efficient antibiotics or combination therapy are urgently needed to treat patients with biofilm-associated MRSA infections. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the in vitro antimicrobial activities of totarol alone or in combination with berberine chloride (BBR) against S. aureus grown in planktonic and biofilm cultures. The synergistic antimicrobial effects between BBR and totarol were observed in all tested strains grown in biofilms using a chequerboard microdilution method, with the fractional inhibitory concentration index values ranging from 0.125 to 0.375. No antagonistic activity was observed in any of the strains tested in suspension or biofilm cultures. The synergistic activity against S. aureus biofilms was also corroborated by confocal laser scanning microscopy and adhesion assays. Moreover, the present study demonstrated that combination BBR and totarol treatment effectively decreased the formation of S. aureus biofilms by affecting extracellular genomic DNA release and polysaccharide intercellular adhesin expression. Subsequently, real-time reverse transcriptase PCR analysis revealed that the combination of BBR and totarol effectively inhibited the transcription of the biofilm-related genes sarA, cidA and icaA. These results suggest that the combination of totarol and BBR is momentous for the further development of a therapy protocol against S. aureus biofilms.

Synergistic Activity of Berberine with Azithromycin against Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Isolated from Patients with Cystic Fibrosis of Lung In Vitro and In Vivo

“…Several reports displayed that both AZM and BER could target efflux pumps (MexXY) [40, 45] and eDNA [26, 30] in PA. However, macrolides were supposed to be difficult of diffusion across the outer membrane of most gram-negative bacteria [46].…”

“…Berberine (BER), a natural isoquinoline alkaloid found in a variety of medicinal plants, had a broad antimicrobial spectrum alone or in combination with other antibiotics [26-28]. The present study aimed to investigate the antibacterial potentials and associated mechanisms of BER and AZM alone and in combination against clinical PA isolates from CF patients.…”

Screening of Anti-Biofilm Compounds from Marine-Derived Fungi and the Effects of Secalonic Acid D on Staphylococcus aureus Biofilm

“…Staphylococcus aureus, a notorious pathogen, can secrete several exotoxins, such as α-hemolysin, enterotoxins, coagulase, and protein A, all of which may be capable of causing a series of acute and chronic infections, such as infective endocarditis and osteomyelitis, and is a frequent invader in chronic lung disease [1,2]. Furthermore, it has been reported to be a serious threat owing to the appearance of multidrug-resistant strains, such as methicillinresistant S. aureus and vancomycin-methicillin-resistant S. aureus [3].…”

Berberine inhibits the MexXY‑OprM efflux pump to reverse imipenem resistance in a clinical carbapenem‑resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolate in a planktonic state

“…Due to this IMP resistance in P. aeruginosa novel antibacterial agents are urgently required. Berberine (BEB), a natural isoquinoline alkaloid, is prevalent in numerous medicinal plants and has been demonstrated to have antibacterial and antifungal activities alone or in combination with other drugs (9)(10)(11)(12)(13). In a previous study, BEB was reported to be a potential inhibitor of MexXY-mediated resistance in P. aeruginosa (14).…”