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Synergism between antibiotics and plant extracts or essential oils with efflux pump inhibitory activity in coping with multidrug-resistant staphylococci

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Abstract

The alarming growth of the number of antibiotic resistant bacteria and in the same time limited possibilities to develop new antimicrobial compounds, lead to an urgent need to keep the sensitivity of bacteria against currently used antibiotics. Bacterial efflux pumps are an important mechanism of antibiotic resistance as the bacteria use efflux pumps for the extrusion of different types of antibiotics and chemicals. The knowledge about inhibitors of efflux pumps from natural sources suggests that this mechanism may be a good target for new drugs based on synergistic interactions of antibiotics with plant extracts, essential oils, or their constituents with efflux pump inhibitory activity. This review summarizes the current knowledge of staphylococcal efflux pumps and potential strategies to overcome them. Natural inhibitors of efflux pumps and their synergistic interactions with antibiotics are summarized.

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Abbreviations

EO:

Essential oil

EP:

Efflux pump

EPI:

Efflux pump inhibitor

EtBr:

Ethidium bromide

MDR:

Multidrug resistance

5′-MHC:

5′-Methoxyhydno-carpin

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Acknowledgments

The work was supported by a Grant VEGA 1/0287/15. Authors are grateful to Dr. Milen Georgiev for the invitation to submit this review.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Biology, Faculty of Natural Science, Comenius University, Mlynská dolina, Ilkovičova 6, 842 15, Bratislava, Slovak Republic

    Mária Mikulášová & Romana Chovanová

  2. Department of Pharmacognosy and Botany, Faculty of Pharmacy, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovak Republic

    Štefánia Vaverková

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  1. Mária Mikulášová
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  2. Romana Chovanová
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  3. Štefánia Vaverková
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Correspondence to Mária Mikulášová.

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Mikulášová, M., Chovanová, R. & Vaverková, Š. Synergism between antibiotics and plant extracts or essential oils with efflux pump inhibitory activity in coping with multidrug-resistant staphylococci. Phytochem Rev 15, 651–662 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11101-016-9458-0

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