An in vitro approach to combat multidrug resistance in Salmonella typhi and human colon cancer with Excoecaria agallocha L. extract

Abstract

Abstract Background The incidence of antibacterial resistance and colon cancer is increasing in India. Antibacterial resistance and chemoresistance demand the need of developing herbal or natural chemotherapeutic agents. Our study thus, aims to determine the antibacterial and anticancer activities of the leaf extracts of the mangrove Excoecaria agallocha. Results Liquid chromatography–mass spectroscopy analysis of the ethanolic E. agallocha extracts revealed the presence of Bergenin. The plant extract fraction containing Bergenin had potent antibacterial action against a resistant strain of Salmonella typhi with an MIC value of 15.7 ± 0.04 µg/mL. Treatment of the bacteria with the plant extract made it moderately susceptible to the antibacterial drugs ampicillin, aztreonam, cefotaxime, chloramphenicol and imipenem. The plant extract caused membrane damage and disrupted the expression of a 33 kDa outer membrane protein (OmpA) in S. typhi. It was plausibly due to this mechanism of the plant extract that made the bacteria susceptible to the antibacterial drugs to a certain extent. Further, fluorescence microscopy analysis revealed the anticancer property of the extract against a human colon cancer (DLD-1) cell line by activation of Caspase-3followed by subsequent apoptosis and exhibited cytotoxicity against the cancerous cell line with an IC50 value of 17.99 ± 1.12 µg/mL. Caspase-3 activity was observed to increase in a dose-dependent manner as determined by spectrophotometric assays. Moreover, the expression of the metalloproteinase-7 (MMP-7) was significantly reduced in plant extract treated DLD-1 colon cancer cells. Conclusion The results indicate that E. agallocha is a novel source of Bergenin, and the plant extract fraction under study may be used in combination therapy along with antibacterial drugs to combat antibacterial resistance of S. typhi and also to alleviate the risks of colon cancers in human. However, further investigations may be undertaken for its therapeutic application and to explore its potential bioactivity against other bacterial strains and human cancer cell lines.