Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Antibacterial activity against porcine respiratory bacterial pathogens and in vitro biocompatibility of essential oils

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Archives of Microbiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Bacterial respiratory infections affecting pigs such as pneumonia, pleuropneumonia, and pleurisy, are a major health concern in the swine industry and are associated with important economic losses. This study aimed to investigate the antibacterial activities of essential oils against major swine respiratory pathogens with a view to developing a potential alternative to antibiotics. Their synergistic interactions with the bacteriocin nisin was also examined. Lastly, we assessed the in vitro biocompatibility of the most efficient essential oils using a pig tracheal epithelial cell line. Of the nine essential oils tested, those from cinnamon, thyme, and winter savory were the most active against Streptococcus suis, Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, Actinobacillus suis, Bordetella bronchiseptica, Haemophilus parasuis, and Pasteurella multocida, with minimum inhibitory concentrations and minimum bactericidal concentrations ranging from 0.01 to 0.156% (v/v). The main component found in cinnamon, thyme, and winter savory oils were cinnamaldehyde, thymol, and carvacrol, respectively. Treating pre-formed S. suis and A. pleuropneumoniae biofilms with thyme or winter savory oils significantly decreased biofilm viability. We also observed a synergistic growth inhibition of S. suis with mixtures of nisin and essential oils from thyme and winter savory. Concentrations of nisin and cinnamon, thyme and winter savory essential oils that were effective against bacterial pathogens had no effect on the viability of pig tracheal epithelial cells. The present study brought evidence that essential oils are potential antimicrobial agents against bacteria associated with porcine respiratory infections.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aarestrup FM, Oliver Duran C, Burch DG (2008) Antimicrobial resistance in swine production. Anim Health Res Rev 9:135–148

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Barton MD (2014) Impact of antibiotic use in the swine industry. Curr Opin Microbiol 19:9–15

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ben Lagha A, Haas B, Gottschalk M, Grenier D (2017) Antimicrobial potential of bacteriocins in poultry and swine production. Vet Res 48:22

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Brockmeier SL, Halbur PG, Thacker EL (2002) Porcine respiratory disease complex. In: Brogden KA, Guthmiller JM (eds) Polymicrobial diseases. ASM Press, Washington, pp 231–258

    Google Scholar 

  • de Aguiar FC, Solarte AL, Tarradas C, Luque I, Maldonado A, Galan-Relano A, Huerta B (2018) Antimicrobial activity of selected essential oils against Streptococcus suis isolated from pigs. Microbiol Open 2018:e613

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferrari M, Scalvini A, Losio MN, Corradi A, Soncini M, Bignotti E, Milanesi E, Ajmone-Marsan P, Barlati S, Bellotti D, Tonelli M (2003) Establishment and characterization of two new pig cell lines for use in virological diagnostic laboratories. J Virol Methods 107:205–212

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gharsallaoui A, Oulahal N, Joly C (2016) Nisin as a food preservative: part 1: physicochemical properties, antimicrobial activity and main uses. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 56:1262–1274

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hathroubi S, Loera-Muro A, Guerrero-Barrera AL, Tremblay YDN, Jacques M (2018) Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae biofilms: role in pathogenicity and potential impact for vaccination development. Anim Health Res Rev 19:17–30

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Horvath G, Acs K (2015) Essential oils in the treatment of respiratory tract diseases highlighting their role in bacterial infections and their anti-inflammatory action: a review. Flavour Fragr J 30:331–341

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • LeBel G, Piché F, Frenette M, Gottschalk M, Grenier D (2013) Antimicrobial activity of nisin against the swine pathogen Streptococcus suis and synergistic interaction with antibiotics. Peptides 50:19–23

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Michiels J, Missotten JAM, Fremaut D, De Smet S, Dierick NA (2009) In vitro characterisation of the antimicrobial activity of selected essential oil components and binary combinations against the pig gut flora. Anim Feed Sci Technol 151:111–127

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • O’Bryan CA, Pendleton SJ, Crandall PG, Ricke SC (2015) Potential of plant essential oils and their components in animal agriculture—in vitro studies on antibacterial mode of action. Front Vet Sci 2:35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Omonijo FA, Ni L, Gong J, Wang Q, Lahaye L, Yang C (2018) Essential oils as alternatives to antibiotics in swine production. Anim Nutr 4:126–136

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Opriessnig T, Gimenez-Lirola LG, Halbur PG (2011) Polymicrobial respiratory disease in pigs. Anim Health Res Rev 12:133–148

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sharifi-Rad J, Sureda A, Tenore GC, Daglia M, Sharifi-Rad M, Valussi M, Tundis R, Sharifi-Rad M, Loizzo MR, Ademiluyi AO, Sharifi-Rad R, Ayatollahi SA, Iriti M (2017) Biological activities of essential oils: from plant chemoecology to traditional healing systems. Molecules 22:1

    Google Scholar 

  • Shin JM, Gwak JW, Kamarajan P, Fenno JC, Rickard AH, Kapila YL (2016) Biomedical applications of nisin. J Appl Microbiol 120:1449–1465

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Solomakos N, Govaris A, Koidis P, Botsoglou N (2008) The antimicrobial effect of thyme essential oil, nisin, and their combination against Listeria monocytogenes in minced beef during refrigerated storage. Food Microbiol 25:120–127

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sun K, Lei Y, Wang R, Wu Z, Wu G (2017) Cinnamicaldehyde regulates the expression of tight junction proteins and amino acid transporters in intestinal porcine epithelial cells. J Anim Sci Biotechnol 8:66

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Turgis M, Dang VuK, Dupont C, Lacroix M (2012) Combined antimicrobial effect of essential oils and bacteriocins against foodborne pathogens and food spoilage bacteria. Food Res Int 48:696–702

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vaillancourt K, LeBel G, Grenier D (2018) In vitro antibacterial activity of essential oils against Staphylococcus hyicus and Staphylococcus aureus, the causative agents of exudative epidermitis in pigs. Arch Microbiol 200:1001–1007

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wang L, Zhao X, Zhu C, Xia X, Qin W, Li M, Wang T, Chen S, Xu Y, Hang B, Sun Y, Jiang J, Richard LP, Lei L, Zhang G, Hu J (2017) Thymol kills bacteria, reduces biofilm formation, and protects mice against a fatal infection of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae strain L20. Vet Microbiol 203:202–210

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wang Y, Wang Y, Sun L, Grenier D, Yi L (2018) Streptococcus suis biofilm: regulation, drug-resistance mechanisms, and disinfection strategies. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 102:9121–9129

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (RGPIN-2015-04146). The authors thank Marcelo Gottschalk (Université de Montréal) for providing the NPTr cell line and the bacterial strains.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Groupe de Recherche en Écologie Buccale (GREB), Faculté de Médecine Dentaire, Université Laval, 2420 Rue de la Terrasse, Quebec City, QC, G1V 0A6, Canada

    Geneviève LeBel, Katy Vaillancourt, Philippe Bercier & Daniel Grenier

  2. Centre de Recherche en Infectiologie Porcine et Avicole (CRIPA), Fonds de Recherche du Québec-Nature et Technologies (FRQNT), Saint-Hyacinthe, QC, Canada

    Daniel Grenier

Authors
  1. Geneviève LeBel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Katy Vaillancourt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Philippe Bercier
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Daniel Grenier
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniel Grenier.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Communicated by Erko Stackebrandt.

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

LeBel, G., Vaillancourt, K., Bercier, P. et al. Antibacterial activity against porcine respiratory bacterial pathogens and in vitro biocompatibility of essential oils. Arch Microbiol 201, 833–840 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-019-01655-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-019-01655-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation