Epigenetic and Drug Response Modulation of Epigalocaten-In-3-Gallate in with Divergent Resistance Phenotypes.

Healthcare-associated methicillin-resistant infections represent extremely high morbidity and mortality rates worldwide. We aimed to assess the antimicrobial potential and synergistic effect between Epigalocatenin-3-gallate (EGCG) and different antibiotics in strains with divergent resistance phenotypes. EGCG exposure effects in epigenetic and drug resistance key modulators were also evaluated. strains ( = 32) were isolated from infected patients in a Lisbon hospital. The identification of the resistance phenotype was performed through automatized methods. The antibiotic synergistic assay was performed through disk diffusion according to EUCAST guidelines with co-exposure to EGCG (250, 100, 50 and 25 µg/mL). The bacteria's molecular profile was assessed through FTIR spectroscopy. The transcriptional expression of , and was performed by using qRT-PCR. FTIR-spectroscopy analysis enabled the clear discrimination of MRSA/MSSA strains and the EGCG exposure effect in the bacteria's molecular profiles. Divergent resistant phenotypes were associated with divergent transcriptional expression of the epigenetic modulator , particularly in MRSA strains, as well as the key drug response modulators and . These results clearly demonstrate that EGCG exposure alters the expression patterns of key epigenetic and drug response genes with associated divergent-resistant profiles, which supports its potential for antimicrobial treatment and/or therapeutic adjuvant against antibiotic-resistant microorganisms.