‘Hypericum brasiliense: bactericidal and antibiofilm activity against Staphylococcus aureus in vitro’

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus is considered the most common opportunistic pathogen in humans, capable of forming biofilm, increasing the chances of antibiotic resistance and causes several chronic diseases. Biodiversity is a source of inspiration in the search for new agents against these microorganisms. Hitherto, the efficacy of Hypericum sp. extracts as an antibacterial agent has already been demonstrated against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. In this study, we observed that until 4 µg/mL, the Hypericum brasiliense extract showed bactericidal activity against a clinical multidrug-resistant S. aureus strain (HU25) and also inhibited biofilm formation at 1/2xMIC (confirmed by SEM) and 1/4xMIC. The extract was also proportionally active against 6 h-preformed biofilm to its concentration (1/2xMIC, 1/4xMIC, p value ≤ 0.05). These promising results make Hypericum brasiliense extract a strong candidate to treat S. aureus infections, including anti-biofilm therapy.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Staphylococcus aureus
• Hypericum brasiliense
• MIC
• MBC
• biofilm

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the technicians Jonas Mendes (Structural Characterization Laboratory - LCE) and Matheus José da Silva (Scanning Electron Microscopy Laboratory of the Center for Studies, Research and Innovation in Biofunctional Materials and Biotechnology, LMEV-CEEMB) of the Federal University of Itajubá, for their technical assistance.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work has been supported by CAPES, CNPq, and FAPERJ. Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior.