Medicinal plant Miconia albicans synergizes with ampicillin and ciprofloxacin against multi-drug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii and Staphylococcus aureus.

BACKGROUND: Given the rising occurrence of antibiotic resistance due to the existence and ongoing development of resistant bacteria and phenotypes, the identification of new treatments and sources of antimicrobial agents is of utmost urgency. An important strategy for tackling bacterial resistance involves the utilization of drug combinations, and natural products derived from plants hold significant potential as a rich source of bioactive compounds that can act as effective adjuvants. This study, therefore, aimed to assess the antibacterial potential and the chemical composition of Miconia albicans, a Brazilian medicinal plant used to treat various diseases. METHODS: Ethanolic extracts from leaves and stems of M. albicans were obtained and subsequently partitioned to give the corresponding hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and hydromethanolic phases. All extracts and phases had their chemical constitution investigated by HPLC-DAD-MS/MS and GC-MS and were assessed for their antibiofilm and antimicrobial efficacy against Staphylococcus aureus. Furthermore, their individual effects and synergistic potential in combination with antibiotics were examined against clinical strains of both S. aureus and Acinetobacter baumannii. In addition, 10 isolated compounds were obtained from the leaves phases and used for confirmation of the chemical profiles and for antibacterial assays. RESULTS: Based on the chemical profile analysis, 32 compounds were successfully or tentatively identified, including gallic and ellagic acid derivatives, flavonol glycosides, triterpenes and pheophorbides. Extracts and phases obtained from the medicinal plant M. albicans demonstrated synergistic effects when combined with the commercial antibiotics ampicillin and ciprofloxacin, against multi-drug resistant bacteria S. aureus and A. baumannii, restoring their antibacterial efficacy. Extracts and phases also exhibited antibiofilm property against S. aureus. Three key compounds commonly found in the samples, namely gallic acid, quercitrin, and corosolic acid, did not exhibit significant antibacterial activity when assessed individually or in combination with antibiotics against clinical bacterial strains. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings reveal that M. albicans exhibits remarkable adjuvant potential for enhancing the effectiveness of antimicrobial drugs against resistant bacteria.

Chemical Composition and Evaluation of Antibacterial, Antibiofilm, and Mutagenic Potentials of a Propolis Sample from the Atlantic Forest of Midwest Brazil.

Sixteen triterpenoids with various skeletal types, five phenylpropanoid derivatives, and two flavonoids were isolated from a propolis sample produced by Apis mellifera collected in the Atlantic Forest of Midwest Brazil. Among these compounds, six triterpenes, namely 3ß,20R-dihydroxylanost-24-en-3-yl-palmitate, (23E)-25-methoxycycloartan-23-en-3-one, 24-methylenecycloartenone, epi-lupeol, epi-α-amyrin, and epi-ß-amyrin are being reported for the first time in propolis, while cycloartenone, (E)-cinnamyl benzoate, and (E)-cinnamyl cinnamate are new findings in Brazilian propolis. The presence of cycloartane- and lanostane-type triterpenoids, the latter being a class of compounds of restricted distribution in propolis worldwide, has not been reported in propolis from Midwest Brazil until now. The ethyl acetate phase obtained from the ethanol extract was effective in preventing biofilm formation by Staphylococcus aureus, with an inhibition rate of about 96 % at 0.5 mg.mL-1 , and with quercetin isolated as one of its active constituents. In contrast, the hexane phase exhibited notable antibacterial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, inhibiting bacterial growth by 92 % at 0.5 mg.mL-1 ; however, none of the triterpenoids isolated from this phase proved active against this pathogen. The ethanol extract was neither toxic nor mutagenic at the concentrations tested, as determined by the in vivo SMART assay on Drosophila melanogaster, even under conditions of high metabolic activation.

Antimicrobial Potential of Essential Oils from Cerrado Plants against Multidrug-Resistant Foodborne Microorganisms.

Foodborne pathogens are a real public health concern in an escalating antimicrobial resistance scenario. Natural products represent a promising source of bioactive molecules, and essential oils have attracted much attention due to their myriad of biological properties, including antibacterial activities. In this context, essential oils obtained from the leaves of Chromolaena squalida, Campomanesia sessiliflora, Myrsine guianensis, Matayba guianensis, Siparuna guianensis, Ocotea minarum and Endlicheria paniculata-species from the Cerrado biome of Midwest Brazil-were extracted and evaluated for their antibacterial activity against a panel of four standard and three clinical multidrug-resistant bacterial strains. All tested oils showed moderate to good activity against at least four bacterial strains, including Salmonella Typhi and oxacillin-resistant Staphylococcus. The essential oils from C. squalida, C. sessiliflora, My. guianensis and Ma. guianensis showed strong inhibition of clinical Staphylococcus strains, which cause bovine mastitis and are related to milk-borne diseases. Their chemical profiles were investigated by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC/MS), which revealed a predominance of mono- and sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, some of which with well-known antimicrobial properties. The essential oil from Cerrado plants proved active against resistant Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, revealing their potentialities for the development of new alternative agents to prevent the spreading of resistant bacterial contamination.

Cytotoxic Phenanthrene, Dihydrophenanthrene, and Dihydrostilbene Derivatives and Other Aromatic Compounds from Combretum laxum.

The chemical investigation of the roots and stems of Combretum laxum yielded a new dihydrostilbene derivative, 4'-hydroxy-3,3',4-trimethoxy-5-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenoxy)-bibenzyl (1), two phenanthrenes (2-3), and three dihydrophenanthrenes (4-6), along with one lignan, three triterpenoids, one aurone, one flavone, one naphthoquinone, and two benzoic acid derivatives. Their structures were determined by 1D and 2D nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic techniques and/or mass spectrometry data. The occurrence of dihydrostilbenoid, phenanthrene and dihydrophenanthrene derivatives is unprecedented in a Combretum species native to the American continent. 2,7-Dihydroxy-4,6-dimethoxyphenanthrene, 2,6-dihydroxy-4,7-dimethoxy-9,10-dihydrophenanthrene and 5-O-methyl apigenin are novel findings in the Combretaceae, as is the isolation of compounds belonging to the chemical classes of aurones and naphthoquinones, while (+)-syringaresinol is reported for the first time in the genus Combretum. Compounds 1-6 were also evaluated for their in vitro cytotoxicity against five human cancer cell lines, and radical-scavenging ability against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH). 6-Methoxycoelonin (4) was the most cytotoxic against melanoma cells (IC50 2.59 ± 0.11 µM), with a high selectivity index compared with its toxicity against nontumor mammalian cells (SI 25.1). Callosin (6), despite exhibiting the strongest DPPH-scavenging activity (IC50 17.7 ± 0.3 µM), proved marginally inhibitory to the five cancer cell lines tested, indicating that, at least for these cells, antioxidant potential is unrelated to antiproliferative activity.

Chemical characterization and bioherbicidal potential of the essential oil from the leaves of Unonopsis guatterioides (A.DC.) R.E.Fr. (Annonaceae).

The chemical composition and the phytotoxicity potential of the essential oil from leaves of Unonopsis guatterioides (A.DC.) R.E.Fr. (Annonaceae) was investigated. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analyses revealed 16 constituents representing 99.50% of the total essential oil, composed mainly of sesquiterpenes. α-copaene, bicyclogermacrene and trans-caryophyllene were the major components (15.7% each), followed by α-humullene, allo-aromadendrene and (+)-spathulenol (9.0, 8.4 and 7.3%, respectively). The essential oil inhibited seed germination and growth in both monocotyledon (Allium cepa) and dicotyledon (Lactuca sativa) models, pointing to a promising application of this oil obtained from the leaves of U. guatterioides as a new bioherbicide.

Radical-scavenging activity of orsellinates.

Lichens are an important source of phenolic compounds and have been intensively investigated for their biological and pharmacological activities. Lecanoric acid (1), a lichen depside, was isolated from a Parmotrema tinctorum specimen and treated with alcohols to produce orsellinic acid (2) and orsellinates (3) to (9) (2,4-dihydroxy-6-n-methyl benzoates). Free radical scavenging activity of methyl (3), ethyl (4), n-propyl (5), n-butyl (6), iso-propyl (7), sec-butyl (8), tert-butyl (9) orsellinates was evaluated using 2,2'-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method. Results showed that chain elongation of methyl (3) to n-butyl (6) causes a rise in the antioxidant activity. However, iso-propyl (7) and tert-butyl (9) were more active than the correspondent linear compounds, although sec-butyl (8) was less active among the chain ramified compounds. All the orsellinates were less active than lecanoric acid (1) and orsellinic acid (2). Orcinol (10) and resorcinol (11) were also determined for comparison with activities of orsellinates. Gallic acid (12) was used as control.