Antimicrobial activity of phenolic acids against commensal, probiotic and pathogenic bacteria

• Published in: Research in microbiology 2010-06, Vol.161 (5), p.372-382
• Main Authors: Cueva, Carolina, Moreno-Arribas, M. Victoria, Martín-Álvarez, Pedro J., Bills, Gerald, Vicente, M. Francisca, Basilio, Angela, Rivas, Concepción López, Requena, Teresa, Rodríguez, Juan M., Bartolomé, Begoña
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anti-Bacterial Agents - chemistry; Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; Antimicrobial activity; Bacteriology; Benzoates - pharmacology; Biological and medical sciences; Candida albicans; Candida albicans - drug effects; Drug Resistance, Bacterial; Drug Resistance, Fungal; Escherichia coli; Escherichia coli - drug effects; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gram-Negative Bacteria - drug effects; Gram-Negative Bacteria - growth & development; Gram-Positive Bacteria - drug effects; Gram-Positive Bacteria - growth & development; Humans; Hydroxybenzoates - chemistry; Hydroxybenzoates - pharmacology; Intestines - microbiology; Lactobacillus; Lactobacillus - drug effects; Lactobacillus brevis; Lactobacillus fermentum; Lactobacillus paraplantarum; Lactobacillus plantarum; Microbiology; Miscellaneous; Pathogens; Phenolic acids; Phenylacetates - pharmacology; Phenylpropionates - pharmacology; Probiotics; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Pseudomonas aeruginosa - drug effects; Staphylococcus aureus; Staphylococcus aureus - drug effects; Structure-Activity Relationship
• ISSN: 0923-2508; 1769-7123
• DOI: 10.1016/j.resmic.2010.04.006

Phenolic acids (benzoic, phenylacetic and phenylpropionic acids) are the most abundant phenolic structures found in fecal water. As an approach towards the exploration of their action in the gut, this paper reports the antimicrobial activity of thirteen phenolic acids towards Escherichia coli, Lactobacillus spp., Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans. The growth of E. coli ATCC 25922 was inhibited by only four of the phenolic acids tested at a concentration of 1000 μg/mL, whereas pathogenic E. coli O157:H7 (CECT 5947) was susceptible to ten of them. The genetically manipulated E. coli lpxC/tolC strain was highly susceptible to phenolic acids. The growth of lactobacilli (Lactobacillus paraplantarum LCH7, Lactobacillus plantarum LCH17, Lactobacillus fermentum LPH1, L. fermentum CECT 5716, Lactobacillus brevis LCH23, and Lactobacillus coryniformis CECT 5711) and pathogens (S. aureus EP167 and C. albicans MY1055) was also inhibited by phenolic acids, but to varying extents. Only P. aeruginosa PAO1 was not susceptible to any of the phenolic compounds tested. Structure–activity relationships of phenolic acids and some of their diet precursors [(+)-catechin and (−)-epicatechin] were established, based on multivariate analysis of microbial activities. The antimicrobial properties of phenolic acids reported in this paper might be relevant in vivo.