Abstract
The bacterial pathogens Streptococcus agalactiae (GBS) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) cause serious infections in humans and animals. The emergence of antibiotic-resistant isolates and bacterial biofilm formation entails the urge of novel treatment strategies. Recently, there is a profound scientific interest in the capabilities of non-digestible oligosaccharides as antimicrobial and anti-biofilm agents as well as adjuvants in antibiotic combination therapies. In this study, we investigated the potential of alginate oligosaccharides (AOS) and chitosan oligosaccharides (COS) as alternative for, or in combination with antibiotic treatment. AOS (2–16%) significantly decreased GBS V growth by determining the minimum inhibitory concentration. Both AOS (8 and 16%) and COS (2–16%) were able to prevent biofilm formation by S. aureus wood 46. A checkerboard biofilm formation assay demonstrated a synergistic effect of COS and clindamycin on the S. aureus biofilm formation, while AOS (2 and 4%) were found to sensitize GBS V to trimethoprim. In conclusion, AOS and COS affect the growth of GBS V and S. aureus wood 46 and can function as anti-biofilm agents. The promising effects of AOS and COS in combination with different antibiotics may offer new opportunities to combat antimicrobial resistance.
Highlights
Among various pathogenic agents, Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Group B Streptococcus (GBS), alternatively called as Streptococcus agalactiae (S. agalactiae), cause serious infections in both humans and animals at a global scale
Given the antimicrobial capacity of alginate oligosaccharides (AOS) and chitosan oligosaccharides (COS), the current study investigated the potential of these two promising Non-digestible oligosaccharides (NDOs) to inhibit bacterial growth and biofilm formation of S. aureus and GBS
Το evaluate whether AOS and COS can inhibit the growth of the two pathogenic strains, GBS V and S. aureus wood 46, bacterial growth in tryptic soy broth (TSB) in the absence and presence of increasing concentrations of AOS and COS was investigated
Summary
Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Group B Streptococcus (GBS), alternatively called as Streptococcus agalactiae (S. agalactiae), cause serious infections in both humans and animals at a global scale. These pathogens can cause a wide spectrum of invasive diseases ranging from neonatal sepsis, meningitis, and pneumonia to severe mastitis in cattle (Tong et al, 2015; Lin et al, 2017). Both pathogens produce multiple virulence factors and have the capability to form biofilms (Rosini and Margarit, 2015; Moormeier and Bayles, 2017). S. aureus can be transferred to the gut microflora of newborns, where it colonizes the gastrointestinal tract (Lindberg et al, 2004)
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