18β-Glycyrrhetinic Acid Inhibits Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Survival and Attenuates Virulence Gene Expression

Abstract

ABSTRACTMethicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus(MRSA) has become a major source of infection in hospitals and in the community. Increasing antibiotic resistance inS. aureusstrains has created a need for alternative therapies to treat disease. A component of the licorice rootGlycyrrhizaspp., 18β-glycyrrhetinic acid (GRA), has been shown to have antiviral, antitumor, and antibacterial activity. This investigation explores thein vitroandin vivoeffects of GRA on MRSA pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) type USA300. GRA exhibited bactericidal activity at concentrations exceeding 0.223 μM. Upon exposure ofS. aureusto sublytic concentrations of GRA, we observed a reduction in expression of key virulence genes, includingsaeRandhla. In murine models of skin and soft tissue infection, topical GRA treatment significantly reduced skin lesion size and decreased the expression ofsaeRandhlagenes. Our investigation demonstrates that at high concentrations GRA is bactericidal to MRSA and at sublethal doses it reduces virulence gene expression inS. aureusbothin vitroandin vivo.