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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Food Microbiology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1439286

Combined effect of Tetracycline compounds and essential oils on antimicrobial resistant Salmonella enterica isolated from the swine food

Provisionally accepted
Francesca Maggio Francesca Maggio 1Carlotta Lauteri Carlotta Lauteri 2Chiara Rossi Chiara Rossi 1Gianluigi Ferri Gianluigi Ferri 2Annalisa Serio Annalisa Serio 1*Alberto Vergara Alberto Vergara 2Antonello Paparella Antonello Paparella 1
  • 1 Faculty of Bioscience and Technology for Food Agriculture and Environment, University of Teramo, Teramo, Italy
  • 2 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Teramo, Teramo, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses risks for food stakeholders because of the spread of resistant microbes and potential foodborne diseases. In example, pigs may carry Salmonella strains, which can infect humans through contaminated food preparations. Due to their antibacterial properties and capacity to modulate bacterial drug resistance, essential oils (EOs) are attracting interest as prospective substitutes for synthetic antimicrobials which can help to reverse microbial resistance. Hence, the present study evaluates the antimicrobial effectiveness of the combination of tetracycline (Tc) compounds and Coridothymus capitatus (CC), Thymus capitatus L. (TC), and Thymus serpyllum (TS) EOs on 11 tetracycline-resistant Salmonella enterica strains isolated from the swine food chain. The kind of interaction between Tc and EOs was evaluated by Fractional Inhibitory Concentration Index (FICI), while the composition of the EOs phytocomplex was linked to Tc antibacterial activity by Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Interestingly, the EOs increased the strains susceptibility to Tc, inhibiting their growth despite the antimicrobial resistance. In most cases, synergistic and commutative effects were detected, as the combination of EOs and Tc compounds resulted in a noticeable decrease in the concentration (from 256 to 4 μg/mL) necessary to inhibit the strains. Thymol, carvacrol, linalool, sabinene, and other EO terpenoid components were revealed as the molecules working in concert with the Tc drug to increase the susceptibility of S. enterica strains to the treatment. Comprehending which molecules of the EOs phytocomplex, beside the main compounds, affect bacterial inhibition, might help to develop a tailor-made approach related to counteract the resistance of specific strains to different antibiotics.

    Keywords: antimicrobial resistance, Salmonella enterica, essential oils, Tetracycline, swine food chain

    Received: 27 May 2024; Accepted: 19 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Maggio, Lauteri, Rossi, Ferri, Serio, Vergara and Paparella. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Annalisa Serio, Faculty of Bioscience and Technology for Food Agriculture and Environment, University of Teramo, Teramo, Italy

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.