A maple syrup extract exhibited antimicrobial activity as well as strong synergistic interaction with selected antibiotics against gram negative clinical strains of bacteria. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Polyphenolic Extract from Maple Syrup Potentiates Antibiotic Susceptibility and Reduces Biofilm Formation of Pathogenic Bacteria.
Appl Environ Microbiol. 2015 Mar 27. Epub 2015 Mar 27. PMID: 25819960
Vimal B Maisuria
Phenolic compounds are believed to be promising candidates as complementary therapeutics. Maple syrup, prepared by concentrating the sap from the North American maple tree, is a rich source of natural and process-derived phenolic compounds. In this work, we report the antimicrobial activity of a Phenolic-Rich Maple Syrup Extract (PRMSE). PRMSE exhibited antimicrobial activity as well as strong synergistic interaction with selected antibiotics against Gram-negative clinical strains of Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Amongst the phenolic constituents of PRMSE, catechol exhibited strong synergy with antibiotics as well as with other phenolic components of PRMSE against bacterial growth. At sub-lethal concentrations, PRMSE and catechol efficiently reduced biofilm formation and increased the susceptibility of bacterial biofilms to antibiotics. In an effort to elucidate the mechanism for the observed synergy with antibiotics, PRMSE was found to increase outer-membrane permeability of all bacterial strains and effectively inhibit efflux pump activity. Furthermore, transcriptome analysis revealed that PRMSE significantly repressed multiple drug resistance genes as well as genes associated with motility, adhesion, biofilm formation and virulence. Overall, this study provides a proof-of-concept and starting point for investigating the molecular mechanism of the reported increase in bacterial antibiotic susceptibility in the presence of PRMSE.