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Bactericidal activity of ethanolic extracts of propolis against Staphylococcus aureus isolated from mastitic cows

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Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus is an important pathogen for both humans and animals, and it has been an ubiquitous etiological agent of bovine mastitis in dairy farms worldwide. Elimination of S. aureus with classic antibiotics is difficult, and the current study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of ethanolic extracts of propolis (EEP) against S. aureus cultivated in complex media or milk. EEP (0–0.5 mg ml−1) decreased growth of S. aureus in BHI media and 1 mg ml−1 was bactericidal against washed cell suspensions (107 CFU ml−1). Propolis extracts also killed S. aureus cells resuspended in milk, but the bactericidal dose was at least 20-fold greater. Cultures that were transferred for at least 60 generations with sub-lethal doses of propolis did not change much their sensibility to EEP. Atomic force microscopy images revealed changes in morphology and cell size of S. aureus cells exposed to EEP (0.5 mg ml−1). Our results indicate that propolis extracts might be effective against mastitis-causing S. aureus strains in vivo, but milk constituents affect the inhibitory activity of propolis. Considering that propolis-resistance appears to be a phenotype not easily selected, the use of EEP combined or not with other antimicrobial agents might be useful for mastitis control in vivo.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG), Belo Horizonte, Brazil (Grant No. CBB-1318/06) for providing financial support for this research. HFS and AATC received fellowships from the Conselho de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq). We thank Dr. Maximiliano Luis Munford, from the Physics Department at the Universidade Federal de Viçosa for technical assistance with the AFM analyses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Microbiologia, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa-MG, 36570-000, Brazil

    Henrique Freitas Santana, Ana Andréa Teixeira Barbosa & Hilário Cuquetto Mantovani

  2. Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa-MG, 36570-000, Brazil

    Sukarno Olavo Ferreira

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  1. Henrique Freitas Santana
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  2. Ana Andréa Teixeira Barbosa
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  3. Sukarno Olavo Ferreira
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  4. Hilário Cuquetto Mantovani
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Correspondence to Hilário Cuquetto Mantovani.

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Santana, H.F., Barbosa, A.A.T., Ferreira, S.O. et al. Bactericidal activity of ethanolic extracts of propolis against Staphylococcus aureus isolated from mastitic cows. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 28, 485–491 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-011-0839-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-011-0839-7

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