Inhibition of growth and virulence of Vibrio cholerae by carvacrol, an essential oil component of Origanum spp

Aims In the age where bacterial resistance to conventional antibiotics is increasing at an alarming rate, the use of the traditional plant, herb extracts or other bioactive constituents is gradually becoming popular as an anti‐virulence agent to treat pathogenic diseases. Carvacrol, a major essentia...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied microbiology 2021-09, Vol.131 (3), p.1147-1161
Main Authors: Das, S., Chourashi, R., Mukherjee, P., Kundu, S., Koley, H., Dutta, M., Mukhopadhyay, A.K., Okamoto, K., Chatterjee, N.S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accumulation
Antibiotics
Bacteria
Biological activity
Carvacrol
Cholera
Essential oils
Flagella
Gene expression
Genes
Infections
inhibitor
motility
Mucin
Oils & fats
Oregano
Pathogenesis
Plant extracts
Vibrio cholerae
Virulence
Waterborne diseases
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Summary:Aims In the age where bacterial resistance to conventional antibiotics is increasing at an alarming rate, the use of the traditional plant, herb extracts or other bioactive constituents is gradually becoming popular as an anti‐virulence agent to treat pathogenic diseases. Carvacrol, a major essential oil fraction of Oregano, possesses a wide range of bioactivities. Therefore, we aimed to study the effect of sub‐inhibitory concentrations of carvacrol on major virulence traits of Vibrio cholerae. Methods and Results We have used in vitro as well as ex vivo models to access the anti‐pathogenic role of carvacrol. We found that the sub‐inhibitory concentration of carvacrol significantly repressed bacterial mucin penetrating ability. Carvacrol also reduced the adherence and fluid accumulation in the rabbit ileal loop model. Reduction in virulence is associated with the downregulated expression of tcpA, ctxB, hlyA and toxT. Furthermore, carvacrol inhibits flagellar synthesis by downregulating the expression of flrC and most of the class III genes. Conclusions Carvacrol exhibited anti‐virulence activity against V. cholerae, which involved many events including the inhibition of mucin penetration, adhesion, reduced expression of virulence‐associated genes culminating in reduced fluid accumulation. Significance and Impact of the Study These findings indicate that carvacrol possesses inhibitory activity against V. cholerae pathogenesis and might be considered as a potential bio‐active therapeutic alternative to combat cholera.
ISSN:1364-5072
1365-2672
DOI:10.1111/jam.15022