Polyphenols are plant-derived natural products with well-documented health benefits to human beings, such as antibacterial activities. However, the antibacterial activities of polyphenols under hyperglycemic conditions have been rarely studied, which could be relevant to their antibacterial efficacy in disease conditions, such as in diabetic patients. Herein, the antibacterial activities of 38 polyphenols under mimicked hyperglycemic conditions were evaluated. The structure-antibacterial activity relationships of polyphenols were also tested and analyzed. The presence of glucose apparently promoted the growth of the bacterial strains tested in this study. The OD600 values of tested bacteria strains increased from 1.09-fold to 1.49-fold by adding 800 mg/dL glucose. The polyphenols showed structurally dependent antibacterial activities, which were significantly impaired under the hyperglycemic conditions. The results from this study indicated that high blood glucose might promote bacterial infection, and the hyperglycemic conditions resulting from diabetes were likely to suppress the antibacterial benefits of polyphenols.
Keywords: antibacterial activity; diabetes; glycation; infection; polyphenol.