Song Zhuoning, Wang Yadong, Zhang Peihua, Wang Ying, Li Yuan, Liu Fang, Long Jinzhao, Yang Haiyan
Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan 450001, P.R. China.
Department of Toxicology, Henan Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zhengzhou, Henan 450016, P.R. China.
Med Int (Lond). 2025 Aug 26;5(6):65. doi: 10.3892/mi.2025.264. eCollection 2025 Nov-Dec.
Punicalagin, a polyphenolic compound extracted from pomegranate peel, has received increasing attention in recent years due to its antibacterial and antiviral properties. Punicalagin is capable of inhibiting bacterial growth at sub-inhibitory concentrations by affecting cell membrane formation, disrupting membrane integrity, altering cell permeability, affecting efflux pumps, interfering with quorum sensing and influencing virulence factors. Additionally, punicalagin inhibits viruses by modulating enzyme activity, interacting with viral surface proteins, affecting gene expression, blocking viral attachment, disrupting virus receptor interaction and inhibiting viral replication. Notably, it exerts synergistic effects on bacterial infections in combination with certain antibiotics, such as oxacillin, particularly against methicillin-resistant . However, the wide variation in the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of punicalagin against various bacterial strains, in addition to the lack of safety, toxicity, or side-effect profile data, underscores the need for additional studies. The present review discusses the advances in the antibacterial and antiviral activities of punicalagin, with in-depth analyses of its mechanisms of action and potential applications in combating microbial infections. Future research is required to focus on addressing the variability in reported MICs, optimizing their bioavailability and conducting preclinical studies to provide a new paradigm for the antimicrobial applications of natural polyphenols.
石榴皮素是一种从石榴皮中提取的多酚类化合物，近年来因其抗菌和抗病毒特性而受到越来越多的关注。石榴皮素能够在亚抑制浓度下通过影响细胞膜形成、破坏膜完整性、改变细胞通透性、影响外排泵、干扰群体感应和影响毒力因子来抑制细菌生长。此外，石榴皮素通过调节酶活性、与病毒表面蛋白相互作用、影响基因表达、阻断病毒附着、破坏病毒受体相互作用和抑制病毒复制来抑制病毒。值得注意的是，它与某些抗生素（如苯唑西林）联合使用时对细菌感染具有协同作用，特别是对耐甲氧西林菌。然而，石榴皮素对各种细菌菌株的最低抑菌浓度（MIC）差异很大，此外还缺乏安全性、毒性或副作用方面的数据，这突出表明需要进行更多研究。本综述讨论了石榴皮素抗菌和抗病毒活性的研究进展，深入分析了其作用机制以及在对抗微生物感染中的潜在应用。未来的研究需要集中在解决报道的MIC的变异性、优化其生物利用度以及进行临床前研究，以便为天然多酚的抗菌应用提供新的范例。
