70
D. Lahiri et al.
DNA and RNA showed maximum reduction in the presence of phytoextract. Thus
this study clearly indicated by utilizing the synergistic properties of bioactive components of A. cepa, an effective substitute for conventional antibiotics can be developed
which can be used for treatment against the biofilm-associated infections.
Keywords Biofilm · Quercetin · Allicin · Antibiofilm · Azithromycin
1 Introduction
Rapid use of antibiotics over various bacteria influenced the development of
antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria leading to a new threat to human health. One of
the major reasons for this resistance is the formation of biofilms by microorganisms.
Biofilms are a coherent cluster of bacterial cells embedded in a matrix known as
extra polymeric substances (EPS), which is more tolerant of most antimicrobials and
host defences compared with planktonic bacterial cells (Waters and Bassler 2005)
This development of EPS makes the biofilm impermeable to antibiotics and drugs
resulting in the development of multidrug-resistant organisms (Olson et al. 2002).
Bacterial growth is characterized by two phenotypes, single cells (planktonic) or
sessile aggregates responsible for the biofilm mode of growth (Nazzaro et al. 2013).
Recently, it has been observed that throat infections are becoming more resistant
to antibiotic treatment leading to failure in eradicating the diseases such as chronic
rhinosinusitis [CRS], chronic otitis media [COM] and otitis media with effusion
[OME] (Vlastarakos et al. 2007). Thus, treatment of these bacterial infections has
become indispensable by application of more than one conventional drug or higher
concentrations of the drugs. But this has its own flaws. First of all, synthetic antibiotics
or antimicrobial agents are generally narrow spectrum in nature. Secondly, increase
in concentration may cause severe health threat by serious side effects. Hence, there
is a need of an alternative method and development of modern drugs that can deal
with infections efficiently by not increasing the resistivity of the bacteria.
Fortunately, it has been seen that the traditional medicinal plants having a wide
range of bioactive compounds such as alkaloids, terpenoids, saponin, quercetin,
anthocyanin, flavonoids and essential oils can effectively treat the bacterial infection
(Sánchez et al. 2016). Moreover, these herbal treatments, unlike synthetic medicines,
do not cause severe health threat. The current project was performed as a comparative analysis to study the efficacy of Allium cepa, extracts and the common antibiotics (Azithromycin) used in throat infection treatment with an objective to find out
whether plant extracts can be a potential alternative to the selected antibiotic for
throat infection and a solution to fight the formation of bacterial biofilms.
D. Lahiri et al.
DNA and RNA showed maximum reduction in the presence of phytoextract. Thus
this study clearly indicated by utilizing the synergistic properties of bioactive components of A. cepa, an effective substitute for conventional antibiotics can be developed
which can be used for treatment against the biofilm-associated infections.
Keywords Biofilm · Quercetin · Allicin · Antibiofilm · Azithromycin
1 Introduction
Rapid use of antibiotics over various bacteria influenced the development of
antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria leading to a new threat to human health. One of
the major reasons for this resistance is the formation of biofilms by microorganisms.
Biofilms are a coherent cluster of bacterial cells embedded in a matrix known as
extra polymeric substances (EPS), which is more tolerant of most antimicrobials and
host defences compared with planktonic bacterial cells (Waters and Bassler 2005)
This development of EPS makes the biofilm impermeable to antibiotics and drugs
resulting in the development of multidrug-resistant organisms (Olson et al. 2002).
Bacterial growth is characterized by two phenotypes, single cells (planktonic) or
sessile aggregates responsible for the biofilm mode of growth (Nazzaro et al. 2013).
Recently, it has been observed that throat infections are becoming more resistant
to antibiotic treatment leading to failure in eradicating the diseases such as chronic
rhinosinusitis [CRS], chronic otitis media [COM] and otitis media with effusion
[OME] (Vlastarakos et al. 2007). Thus, treatment of these bacterial infections has
become indispensable by application of more than one conventional drug or higher
concentrations of the drugs. But this has its own flaws. First of all, synthetic antibiotics
or antimicrobial agents are generally narrow spectrum in nature. Secondly, increase
in concentration may cause severe health threat by serious side effects. Hence, there
is a need of an alternative method and development of modern drugs that can deal
with infections efficiently by not increasing the resistivity of the bacteria.
Fortunately, it has been seen that the traditional medicinal plants having a wide
range of bioactive compounds such as alkaloids, terpenoids, saponin, quercetin,
anthocyanin, flavonoids and essential oils can effectively treat the bacterial infection
(Sánchez et al. 2016). Moreover, these herbal treatments, unlike synthetic medicines,
do not cause severe health threat. The current project was performed as a comparative analysis to study the efficacy of Allium cepa, extracts and the common antibiotics (Azithromycin) used in throat infection treatment with an objective to find out
whether plant extracts can be a potential alternative to the selected antibiotic for
throat infection and a solution to fight the formation of bacterial biofilms.