Abstract
Bacterial infection is considered to be one of the most critical health issues of the world. It is essential to overcome this problem by the development of new drugs. Marine organisms as corals, sponges, seaweeds, and other are an incredible source of novel pharmacologically active compounds. Herein, the antimicrobial activity (extract/fractions) of the invasive stony coralTubastraea coccinea was evaluated by the disk diffusion method against 21 microbial strains (ATCC and clinical strains). Micro broth dilution was used to determinate the MIC of the fractions that showed antimicrobial activity by the disk diffusion method. Bioautography assay was also performed. Our results showed that the n-butanol (BF) and aqueous fractions (AF) showed activity against ATCC strains Staphylococcus aureus (MIC 31.25 and 250 μg/mL),Salmonella typhimurium (MIC 125 and 500 μg/mL), Escherichia coli (MIC 62.5 and 500 μg/mL) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MIC 62.5 and 500 μg/mL), respectively. Moreover, BF fraction was also effective against the clinical strains S. aureus(MIC 62.5 μg/mL), Klebsiella pneumoniae Carbapenemase—KPC (MIC 125 μg/mL), Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus—MRSA (MIC 125 μg/mL) and Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus faecalis—VRE (MIC 62.5 μg/mL). The ratio MBC/MIC reinforces the bactericidal profile of BF fraction. The bioautography assay of BF fraction showed the presence of antimicrobial components at Rf0.55.
Highlights
The increasing global resistance of pathogenic bacteria has become a public health problem and, in attempts to overcome it, research efforts are addressing the discovery of novel and efficient antibacterial compounds [1]
The fractions that showed antibacterial activity by the disk diffusion method were further tested by the microplate assay, to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC)
The wells that showed negative visible growth after 18 h of incubation were replated on agar nutrient plates, to obtain the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of the fractions
Summary
The increasing global resistance of pathogenic bacteria has become a public health problem and, in attempts to overcome it, research efforts are addressing the discovery of novel and efficient antibacterial compounds [1]. The emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria has created a situation in which there are few or no treatment options for infections with certain microorganisms [2] In this context, unusual sources, such as natural products from marine organisms, are important for antibacterial drug discovery, since they represent a high potential source of new drugs with diverse and often unique structures [3]-[6]. Corals (phylum Cnidaria) represent a dominant group of benthic marine invertebrates that inhabit all oceans, including Brazilian waters These organisms are of the great interest to the scientific community, since they are source of marine natural products that possess high potential in terms of chemical novelty and as drug leads, yielding structures with novel modes of action [7]-[9]. A recent report suggests that T. coccinea produces chemical defenses by competing against native octocorals [10], and a few data in relation to its ecological significance [12], chemical composition [13] as well as pharmacological properties are reported
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