Chemical Composition and Synergistic Potential of Mentha pulegium L. and Artemisia herba alba Asso. Essential Oils and Antibiotic against Multi-Drug Resistant Bacteria

Fahima Bekka-Hadji (1) , Isabelle Bombarda (2) , Ferhat Djoudi (3) , Sofiane Bakour (4, 5) , Abdelaziz Touati (6)

1 UMSBJ - Université Mohammed Seddik Benyahia [Jijel] | University of Jijel
2 IMBE - Institut méditerranéen de biodiversité et d'écologie marine et continentale
3 Unité de recherche LaMOS = Research unit LaMOS - Unité de recherche Laboratoire de Modélisation et Optimisation des Systèmes [Université de Béjaïa]
4 MEPHI - Microbes évolution phylogénie et infections
5 IHU Marseille - Institut Hospitalier Universitaire Méditerranée Infection
6 UB - Université Abderrahmane Mira [Université de Béjaïa] = University Abderrahmane Mira [University of Béjaïa]

The essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation from aerial parts of Mentha pulegium L. (M. pulegium L.) and Artemisia herba alba (A. herba alba) Asso. and analyzed by gas chromatography–flame ionization detector chromatograpy (GC–FID) and gaz chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The antibacterial activities of the oils were determined by the disk diffusion method and a microdilution broth assay against six bacteria stains. The combinations of these essential oils with antibiotics were evaluated against two multi-drug-resistant bacteria strains: imipenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (IRAB S3310) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA S19). The chemical analysis of M. pulegium essential oil revealed the presence of pulegone (74.8%) and neoisomenthol (10.0%). A. herba alba essential oil was characterized by camphor (32.0%), α-thujone (13.7%), 1,8-cineole (9.8%), β-thujone (5.0%), bornéol (3.8%), camphene (3.6%), and p-cymene (2.1%). All strains tested except Pseudomonas aeruginosa were susceptible to these oils. The combinations of essential oils with antibiotics exerted synergism, antagonism, or indifferent effects. The best effect was observed with A. herba alba essential oil in association with cefoxitin (CX) against MRSA S19. However, for IRAB S3310, the strongest synergistic effect was observed with M. pulegium in association with amikacin (AK). This study demonstrated that M. pulegium and A. herba alba essential oils have antibacterial activities which could be potentiated by antibiotics especially in the case of IRAB S3310.

Mots clés: essential oil; antibacterial activity; multi-drug-resistant bacteria; antibiotic; synergism

Domaines: Bactériologie; Cardiologie et système cardiovasculaire; Maladies émergentes; Maladies infectieuses; Parasitologie; Virologie

Fahima Bekka-Hadji, Isabelle Bombarda, Ferhat Djoudi, Sofiane Bakour, Abdelaziz Touati. Chemical Composition and Synergistic Potential of Mentha pulegium L. and Artemisia herba alba Asso. Essential Oils and Antibiotic against Multi-Drug Resistant Bacteria. Molecules, 2022, 27 (3), pp.1095. ⟨10.3390/molecules27031095⟩. ⟨hal-03663712⟩