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Antimicrobial and antibiofilm activities of ursolic acid against carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae

The Journal of Antibiotics volume 73, pages 382–391 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

Previous studies demonstrated that ursolic acid (UA) present in apple pomace displays antimicrobial activity against some microorganisms, but the underlying mechanisms associated with this activity remain unexplored. Furthermore, there are no reports on the effect of UA on carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP). This study examined the antimicrobial activity and mode of action of UA against CRKP was examined. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of UA against CRKP was determined by the agar dilution method. Variations in the intracellular pH (pHin), ATP concentration, and cell membrane potential were measured to assess the influence of UA on the cell membrane. Our results show that UA was effective against CRKP at an MIC of 0.8 mg ml−1. UA disrupted the cell membrane integrity of CRKP, exhibited strong inhibitory effects against biofilm formation and biofilm-related gene expression, and inactivated CRKP cells encased in biofilms. Thus, UA shows promise for use in combination with other antibiotics to treat multidrug resistant K. pneumoniae infections.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11975177, 11575149), the Key Research and Development Project of Shaanxi Province (2019XY-03, 2019NY-004, 2019JM-184), and the Industry Cultivation Project of Education Department of Shaanxi Provincial Government (18JC006, 18JC007).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Food Science and Bioengineering School, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, 710021, Xi’an, PR China

    Weidong Qian, Wenjing Wang, Jianing Zhang, Ting Wang, Miao Liu, Min Yang, Zhaohuan Sun & Xiang Li

  2. Ningbo Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 315010, Ningbo, PR China

    Yongdong Li

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  1. Weidong Qian
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Correspondence to Weidong Qian or Yongdong Li.

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Qian, W., Wang, W., Zhang, J. et al. Antimicrobial and antibiofilm activities of ursolic acid against carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae. J Antibiot 73, 382–391 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41429-020-0285-6

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