Susceptibility of Cronobacter sakazakii to plant products, antibiotics, and to lactic acid bacteria

Abstract

Introduction: Cronobacter sakazakii is an emerging and opportunistic pathogen, related with outbreaks of necrotizing enterocolitis, bacteremia, and infant meningitis. Powdered infant formula (PIF)-products contaminated by C. sakazakii cause severe infections in infants. Materials and Methods: In the present study, C. sakazakii isolates were tested for their susceptibility to various antibiotics using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. Alternatively, C. sakazakii infections can be controlled by various plant products and probiotics. Aqueous and alcoholic extracts of Citrus sinensis , Cinnamomum zeylanicum , Piper chaba , Terminalia chebula , Terminalia arjuna, Mangifera indica, Zingiber officinale, Allium sativum, Azadirachta indica, Ocimum sanctum, Syzygium aromaticum, Terminalia bellirica and Emblica officinalis were prepared and their antimicrobial activities were checked against C. sakazakii by the Muller-Hinton Agar well diffusion method. For probiotic control, an in vitro study was conducted to determine the antibacterial activity of lactic acid bacteria against C. sakazakii. Results: Results showed the antimicrobial activity of plant products and lactic acid bacteria against C. sakazakii . It is recommended that these plant products and lactic acid bacteria could be utilized as natural antimicrobials in baby food-formulations to inhibit C. sakazakii infections in neonates. Conclusion: Emergence of multi-drug resistance and side-effects of antibiotics, plant products can serve as effective antimicrobial agents against C. sakazakii. Lactic acid bacteria can also serve in the control of infections caused by C. sakazakii. Specific probiotics may be useful for healthy intestinal colonization and barrier function to fight pathogen adhesion.