New Strategies for Biocontrol of Bacterial Toxins and Virulence: Focusing on Quorum-Sensing Interference and Biofilm Inhibition

Abstract

The overuse of antibiotics and the emergence of multiple-antibiotic-resistant pathogens are becoming a serious threat to health security and the economy. Reducing antimicrobial resistance requires replacing antibiotic consumption with more biocontrol strategies to improve the immunity of animals and humans. Probiotics and medicinal plants have been used as alternative treatments or preventative therapies for a variety of diseases caused by bacterial infections. Therefore, we reviewed some of the anti-virulence and bacterial toxin-inhibiting strategies that are currently being developed; this review covers strategies focused on quenching pathogen quorum sensing (QS) systems, the disruption of biofilm formation and bacterial toxin neutralization. It highlights the probable mechanism of action for probiotics and medicinal plants. Although further research is needed before a definitive statement can be made on the efficacy of any of these interventions, the current literature offers new hope and a new tool in the arsenal in the fight against bacterial virulence factors and bacterial toxins.

Anti-Biofilm Strategies: A Focused Review on Innovative Approaches

“…QS offers better survival to microbial populations rather than individual cells [4]. In the human health field, because QS is correlated to BFs' production, several authors are focusing their studies on cell-tocell communication disruption as an innovative strategy against chronic infections [121]. In-depth studies on what the signals that regulate the formation of BFs are can represent the best strategy against bacterial resistance and immune evasion [5,122,123].…”

Pathogenic Biofilm Removal Potential of Wild-Type Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus Strains

“…Hence, it has been observed that the LAB culture supernatant acts efficiently against bacterial biofilms [5][6][7][8]. Thus, the antimicrobial agents produced by probiotic cell metabolism have recently been proposed as potential candidates for controlling bacterial biofilm formation against foodborne pathogens [9][10][11]. Interestingly, a previous study depicted that probiotics themselves and their dried supernatant could inhibit the formation of dental plaque caused by Streptococcus mutans [12].…”