Anti-infective potential of a quorum modulatory polyherbal extract (panchvalkal) against certain pathogenic bacteria

Abstract

Background In view of the gravity of the problem of antimicrobial resistance among pathogenic bacteria against conventional bactericidal agents, investigation on alternative approaches to combat bacterial infections is warranted. Objective Current study aimed at investigating anti-infective potential of a polyherbal ayurvedic formulation namely panchvalkal against three different pathogenic bacteria. Materials and methods The panchvalkal formulation available as Pentaphyte P5® was tested for its possible in vitro quorum-modulatory potential against Chromobacterium violaceum , Serratia marcescens , and Staphylococcus aureus through broth dilution assay. In vivo efficacy was demonstrated employing Caenorhabditis elegans as the model host for test pathogens. Results This formulation was found to exert quorum-modulatory effect on C. violaceum , S. marcescens , and S. aureus at 250–750 μg/ml. Besides altering production of the quorum sensing-regulated pigments in these bacteria, the test formulation also had in vitro effect on antibiotic susceptibility, catalase activity and haemolytic potential of the pathogens. In vivo assay confirmed the protective effect of this panchvalkal formulation on C. elegans, when challenged with the pathogenic bacteria. Repeated exposure of S. aureus to panchvalkal did not induce resistance in this bacterium. Conclusion To the best of our awareness, this the first report on quorum-modulatory potential of panchvalkal formulation, validating the anti-infective potential and moderate prebiotic property of this polyherbal preparation.

Antipathogenic Potential of a Polyherbal Wound-Care Formulation (Herboheal) against Certain Wound-Infective Gram-Negative Bacteria

“…Their inherent polycomponent nature makes them less prone to development of resistance by the susceptible microorganisms, as for any organism developing simultaneous resistance against multiple components will always be more difficult than that against a single-molecule-based agent. We recently have reported antipathogenic potential of another polyherbal formulation described as Panchvalkal in Ayurved [16]. This concept of polyherbalism/multicomponent formulations is gaining wider acceptance today than ever before [66], and accordingly, there is an increasing interest among scientific community to validate traditional therapeutic practices.…”

“…Assessment of QS-regulated pigment production by test pathogens in presence or absence of the test formulation was done using the broth dilution assay [16]. Organisms were challenged with different concentrations (0.05–1% v/v) of Herboheal formulation (HF).…”

Anti-infective efficacy of Psidium guajava L. leaves against certain pathogenic bacteria

“…To have some insight into the mode of action of GLE, we incubated all the five test bacteria with GLE to investigate whether it affects bacterial growth and/or quorum-sensing (QS) regulated pigment production (a marker trait). Bacterial cell density and pigment production were quantified as earlier described by us (Joshi et al, 2016;Patel et al, 2018). At least one concentration of GLE was found to modulate pigment production in all the four pigmented bacteria (Figure 3; Dataset 1: Underlying data).…”

Anti-pathogenic potential of a classical ayurvedic formulation- Triphala

“…Anti-infective assay (Patel et al, 2018a): Triphala exposedpathogenic bacteria were allowed to infect C. elegans (L3-L4 stage), and their capacity to kill the worm population was compared with their Triphala-unexposed counterparts, over a period of 5 days.…”