title: Antimicrobial activity of plumbagin, a naturally occurring naphthoquinone from Plumbago rosea, against Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans.
abstract: Candida albicans and Staphylococcus aureus are opportunistic pathogens. Despite causing a number of independent infections, both pathogens can co-infect to cause urinary tract infections, skin infections, biofilm associated infections, sepsis and pneumonia. Infections of these two pathogens especially their biofilm associated infections are often difficult to treat using currently available anti-bacterial and anti-fungal agents. In order to identify a common anti-microbial agent which could confer a broad range of protection against their infections, we screened several phytochemicals and identified plumbagin (5-hydroxy-2-methyl-1,4-naphthoquinone), a phytochemical from Plumbago species as a potent antimicrobial agent against S. aureus and C. albicans, with a minimum inhibitory concentration of 5μg/ml. Antimicrobial activity of plumbagin was validated using an ex-vivo porcine skin model. For better understanding of the antimicrobial activity of plumbagin, a Drosophila melanogaster infection model was used, where D. melanogaster was infected using S. aureus and C. albicans, or with both organisms. The fly's survival rate was dramatically increased when infected flies were treated using plumbagin. Further, plumbagin was effective in preventing and dispersing catheter associated biofilms formed by these pathogens. The overall results of this work provides evidence that plumbagin, possesses an excellent antimicrobial activity which should be explored further for the treatment of S. aureus and C. albicans infections.
authors.affiliation: Amrita Center for Nanoscience and Molecular medicine, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Center, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (Amrita University), Ponekkara, Cochin, Kerala 682041, India.
authors.forename: Sweatha V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Nair
authors.affiliation: Amrita Center for Nanoscience and Molecular medicine, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Center, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (Amrita University), Ponekkara, Cochin, Kerala 682041, India.
authors.forename: Gaurav
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Baranwal
authors.affiliation: Amrita Center for Nanoscience and Molecular medicine, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Center, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (Amrita University), Ponekkara, Cochin, Kerala 682041, India.
authors.forename: Maitrayee
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chatterjee
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Center, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (Amrita University), Ponekkara, Cochin, Kerala 682041, India.
authors.forename: Arun
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sachu
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Center, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (Amrita University), Ponekkara, Cochin, Kerala 682041, India.
authors.forename: Anil Kumar
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Vasudevan
authors.affiliation: Amrita School of Biotechnology,Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (Amrita University), Kollam, Kerala 690525, India.
authors.forename: Chinchu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bose
authors.affiliation: Amrita School of Biotechnology,Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (Amrita University), Kollam, Kerala 690525, India.
authors.forename: Asoke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Banerji
authors.affiliation: Amrita Center for Nanoscience and Molecular medicine, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Center, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (Amrita University), Ponekkara, Cochin, Kerala 682041, India. Electronic address: rajabiswas@aims.amrita.edu.
authors.forename: Raja
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Biswas
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018441:Biofilms / Q000187:drug effects; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D002177:Candidiasis / Q000188:drug therapy; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster; D005260:Female; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D009285:Naphthoquinones / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D064209:Phytochemicals / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D029606:Plumbaginaceae / Q000737:chemistry; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000188:drug therapy; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D009285:Naphthoquinones; D064209:Phytochemicals; C014758:plumbagin
keywords: Bacteria; Biofilm; Fungus; Phytochemicals; Plumbagin