Biofilm formation and adherence of
bacteria to host
tissue are one of the most important
virulence factors of
methicillin-resistant strains of
Staphylococcus aureus (
MRSA). The number of resistant
strains is seriously increasing during the past years and
bacteria have become resistant, not only to
methicillin, but also to other commonly used antistaphylococcal
antibiotics. There is a great need for discovering a novel
antimicrobial agent for the
treatment of
staphylococcal infections. One of the most promising groups of compounds appears to be
chalcones. In present study we evaluated the
in vitro effect of three newly synthesized
chalcones 1,3-Bis-(2-hydroxy-phenyl)-propenone, 3-(3Hydroxy-phenyl)-1-(2-hydroxy-phenyl)-propenone and 3-(4-Hydroxy-phenyl)-1-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-propenone on
glycocalyx production,
biofilm formation and adherence to
human fibronectin of clinical isolates and
laboratory control
strain of
MRSA (ATCC 43300). Subinhibitory concentrations of the tested compounds reduced the
production of
glycocalyx,
biofilm formation and adherence to
human fibronectin of all
MRSA strains. Inhibition of
biofilm formation was
dose dependent and the most effective was 1,3-Bis-(2-hydroxy-phenyl)-propenone. In our study we demonstrated that three newly-synthesized
chalcones exhibited significant effect on adherence and
biofilm formation of
MRSA strains.
Chalcones may be considered as promising new
antimicrobial agents that can be used for prevention of
staphylococcal infections or as adjunct to
antibiotics in conventional
therapy.