Medical Microbiology and Immunology department, Faculty of Medicine, Minia University, Minia, Egypt.
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Minia University, Minia, Egypt.
Sci Rep. 2024 Oct 28;14(1):25747. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-75317-0.
Staphylococcus aureus produces a plethora of virulence factors to invade and establish infections in the host system, and biofilms are more resistant to antibiotics than planktonic cells. In this study, we aimed to investigate the anti-virulence and anti-biofilm potentials of zinc sulfate against S. aureus isolates. The synergistic effect of zinc sulfate in combination with antibiotics on S. aureus was characterized using the checkerboard method. The influence of zinc sulfate on biofilm formation and virulence factors production by S. aureus was experimentally assessed. RT-qPCR was used to investigate the effect of zinc sulfate on the expression of biofilm-related genes. Zinc sulfate exhibited good antibacterial activity against S. aureus with a MIC of 128 µg/ml against all tested isolates. Also, the findings indicate a synergistic effect of a combination of zinc sulfate and antibiotics against the tested isolates. Zinc sulfate at 256 µg/ml concentration inhibited biofilm formation for all isolates. The expression of biofilm-related genes was significantly repressed in zinc sulfate-treated bacteria compared to untreated cells. Zinc sulfate could inhibit the hemolytic ability of S. aureus. Moreover, zinc sulfate-treated bacteria exhibited a significant decrease in coagulase and catalase activity relative to control untreated S. aureus. Our results support that zinc sulfate is a potential antimicrobial and anti-virulence agent against S. aureus infections.
金黄色葡萄球菌产生大量毒力因子，以侵入并在宿主系统中建立感染，生物膜比浮游细胞对抗生素更具抵抗力。在这项研究中，我们旨在研究硫酸锌对金黄色葡萄球菌分离株的抗毒力和抗生物膜潜力。使用棋盘法对硫酸锌与抗生素联合对金黄色葡萄球菌的协同作用进行了表征。实验评估了硫酸锌对金黄色葡萄球菌生物膜形成和毒力因子产生的影响。使用 RT-qPCR 研究了硫酸锌对生物膜相关基因表达的影响。硫酸锌对所有测试分离株的 MIC 为 128 µg/ml，表现出良好的抗菌活性。此外，研究结果表明硫酸锌与抗生素联合使用对测试分离株具有协同作用。硫酸锌在 256 µg/ml 浓度下抑制所有分离株的生物膜形成。与未处理的细胞相比，硫酸锌处理的细菌中与生物膜相关的基因表达显著受到抑制。硫酸锌可抑制金黄色葡萄球菌的溶血能力。此外，与对照未处理的金黄色葡萄球菌相比，硫酸锌处理的细菌中凝固酶和过氧化氢酶活性显著降低。我们的结果支持硫酸锌是一种针对金黄色葡萄球菌感染的潜在抗菌和抗毒力剂。
