The synergistic effects of green tea polyphenols and antibiotics against potential pathogens

Abstract

Green tea leaves contain many polyphenolic compounds such as (−)-epicatechin (EC), (−)-epicatechin-3gallate (ECG), (−)-epigallocatechin (EGC), and (−)epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG). These polyphenol compounds have been implicated to have distinct properties that combat the harmful effects of cell proliferation. They contain certain anti-viral and antibacterial properties that inhibit growth. In this study, 1% green tea and modified lipophilic green tea polyphenols (GTP and LTP) were used in combination with the most commonly prescribed antibiotics to study their effects on gram-positive, gram-negative, and acid-fast bacteria. The results indicated that 1% GTP and 1% LTP provided different synergistic effects on several antibiotics in various bacteria. It was found that 1% GTP works the best synergistically against Enterobacter aerogenes, making the resistant strain susceptible to 8 out of 12 antibiotics used. 1% LTP worked the best on Escherichia coli and was able to convert 7 antibiotic resistant categories to susceptible. In addition, 1% LTP was also able to inhibit the growth of Serratia marcescens synergistically with 3 antibiotics. These results suggest that 1% GTP and 1% LTP provide beneficial effects on selected antibiotics against microbial growth and are able to reverse the antibiotic resistance to susceptible. Green tea polyphenols could serve as natural alternatives to combat against antibiotic resistance pathogens.

Modified Green Tea Polyphenols, EGCG-S and LTP, Inhibit Endospore in Three <i>Bacillus</i> spp.

“…EGCG has been shown to have many pharmacological activities including anti-carcinogenic, antiviral, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects [14]- [24]. A major advantage of EGCG as a potential agent is that it is non-toxic, and can be consumed or applied topically without adverse effects [25].…”

Effect of Green Tea Powder as an Alternative of Antibiotic on Growth Performance, Meat Quality and Blood Lipid Profile of Broiler

“…It was found that 1% GTP works the best synergistically against enterobacter aerogenes, making the resistant strain susceptible to 8 out of 12 antibiotics used. 1% LTP appeared to inhibit E coli, E. aerogenes, S marescens and M smegmatis which are gram-negative micro-organisms (Bobak Haghjoo et al, 2013).…”

“…These results suggest that 1% GTP and 1% LTP provide beneficial effects on selected antibiotics against microbial growth and are able to reverse the antibiotic resistance to susceptible. Green tea polyphenols could serve as natural alternatives to combat against antibiotic resistance pathogens (Haghjoo et al 2013).…”

Epigallocatechin Gallate-Stearate Enhances the Efficacy of Antibiotics

“…The effect of crude green tea polyphenols (GTP) and crude lipophilic green tea polyphenols (LTP) on antibiotics has been reported [10]. The comparison of the synergistic effect of the pure EGCG and EGCG-S has been summarized in Ta…”

“…One of the advantages of EGCG is that it is non-toxic and can be applied or consumed without adverse effects, which the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) classifies as a safe compound [8] [9]. Under normal conditions, EGCG is a water-soluble polyphenol oxidized and metabolized rapidly, which leads to the loss of potent antimicrobial abilities quickly [10]. To overcome the stability issue, the modified lipophilic polyphenols could be an effective agent as green tea polyphenols (GTPs) [11].…”