Essential Oils Biofilm Modulation Activity, Chemical and Machine Learning Analysis. Application on Staphylococcus aureus Isolates from Cystic Fibrosis Patients.

Rosanna Papa,Gianluca Vrenna,Michela Relucenti,Manuela Sabatino,Orlando Donfrancesco,Rino Ragno,Marco Artini,Laura Selan,Stefania Garzoli,Filippo Sapienza,Ersilia Fiscarelli

doi:10.3390/ijms21239258

Abstract

Bacterial biofilm plays a pivotal role in chronic Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) infection and its inhibition may represent an important strategy to develop novel therapeutic agents. The scientific community is continuously searching for natural and “green alternatives” to chemotherapeutic drugs, including essential oils (EOs), assuming the latter not able to select resistant strains, likely due to their multicomponent nature and, hence, multitarget action. Here it is reported the biofilm production modulation exerted by 61 EOs, also investigated for their antibacterial activity on S. aureus strains, including reference and cystic fibrosis patients’ isolated strains. The EOs biofilm modulation was assessed by Christensen method on five S. aureus strains. Chemical composition, investigated by GC/MS analysis, of the tested EOs allowed a correlation between biofilm modulation potency and putative active components by means of machine learning algorithms application. Some EOs inhibited biofilm growth at 1.00% concentration, although lower concentrations revealed different biological profile. Experimental data led to select antibiofilm EOs based on their ability to inhibit S. aureus biofilm growth, which were characterized for their ability to alter the biofilm organization by means of SEM studies.

Highlights

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a hereditary disease that affects the normal function of epithelial cells, especially in the lungs and digestive system, causing incremental disability
The concentration of 1.00% v/v this concentration, the antimicrobial activity was chosen on the basis of a of the 61 essential oils (EOs) listed in Table previous SM4 was e2v.1a.lBuiaotfeildm, aPnrdodiuncatciotnivMe EodOuslawtieornebiynvEeOsstiagtaSteedlecftoerdtFhiexierdaCbiolnitcyenintramtioodnsulating the biofilm production (Table SM5)
Aditffbeortehnttecsotendcecnotnrcaetniotrnast.ioInnsp(a1r.0ti0c%ulva/rv, athnedc0o.0n5c%envtr/va)titohne boifo1fi.l0m0%prvo/dvuwctaiosncwhoassecnomonpathreedbtaostihs aotfoaf upnretvreioatuesdrbepacotretr[i1a9(]T. aAbtlethsiSsMco6nacnendtrSaMti7o)n., the antimicrobial activity of the 61 EOs listed in Table SM4 was evaluated, and inactive EOs were investigated for their ability in modulating the biofilm

Summary

Introduction

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a hereditary disease that affects the normal function of epithelial cells, especially in the lungs and digestive system, causing incremental disability. Recurrent and chronic respiratory tract infections in CF patients result in progressive lung damage representing the primary cause of morbidity and mortality. S. aureus is the prevalent microorganism in CF children with a maximum prevalence occurring in ages of 11–15 years [2]. The increasing diffusion of methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains in the last 10 years has gained the attention of the scientific community [3]. Statistical studies revealed that CF patients infected by MRSA in the respiratory tract show worse clinical outcomes [4,5]. For this reason, from a young age, CF patients are treated with antimicrobial drugs to control lung infections

Methods

Results

Conclusion