A novel synthetic flavonoid with potent antibacterial properties: In vitro activity and proposed mode of action

PLoS One. 2018 Apr 4;13(4):e0194898. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0194898. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

The emergence of pathogenic multidrug-resistant bacteria demands new approaches in finding effective antibacterial agents. Synthetic flavonoids could be a reliable solution due to their important antimicrobial activity. We report here the potent in vitro antibacterial activity of ClCl-flav-a novel synthetic tricyclic flavonoid. The antimicrobial effects were tested using the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), time kill and biofilm formation assays. Fluorescence microscopy and scanning electron microscopy were employed to study the mechanism of action. MTT test was used to assess the cytotoxicity of ClCl-flav. Our results showed that Gram positive bacteria were more sensitive (MIC = 0.24 μg/mL) to ClCl-flav compared to the Gram negative ones (MIC = 3.9 μg/mL). We found that our compound showed significantly enhanced antibacterial activities, 32 to 72-fold more active than other synthetic flavonoids. ClCl-flav showed bactericidal activity at concentrations ranging from 0.48 to 15.62 μg/mL. At twice the MIC, all Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae cells were killed within 1 h. Also ClCl-flav presented good anti-biofilm activity. The mechanism of action is related to the impairment of the cell membrane integrity. No or very low cytotoxicity was evidenced at effective concentrations against Vero cells. Based on the strong antibacterial activity and cytotoxicity assessment, ClCl-flav has a good potential for the design of new antimicrobial agents.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / chemical synthesis*
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / chemistry
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology
  • Biofilms / drug effects
  • Cell Survival / drug effects
  • Chlorocebus aethiops
  • Flavonoids / chemical synthesis
  • Flavonoids / chemistry*
  • Flavonoids / pharmacology
  • Gram-Negative Bacteria / drug effects
  • Gram-Negative Bacteria / physiology
  • Gram-Positive Bacteria / drug effects
  • Gram-Positive Bacteria / physiology
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
  • Vero Cells

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Flavonoids

Grants and funding

This work was supported by research project 152PED/2017 funded by Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research, project leader - Prof. PhD Lucian Mihail Birsa. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.