Elimination of Persister Cells Originating from Staphylococcus aureus by Scrophularia striata Boiss. Extract

Bakhti, Shahriar; Ahmadi, Mohammad Hossein; Owlia, Parviz

doi:10.22092/ari.2025.370254.3768

Elimination of Persister Cells Originating from Staphylococcus aureus by Scrophularia striata Boiss. Extract

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Articles

Authors

Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran.

10.22092/ari.2025.370254.3768

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus is a significant pathogen responsible for various infections. It has shown increasing resistance to multiple antibiotics, with persister cell formation playing a crucial role in recurrent infections. Scrophularia striata Boiss., a medicinal plant known for its antimicrobial properties, is assessed in this study for its potential to eliminate persister cells derived from S. aureus. The identification and confirmation of bacterial strains as well as the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) tests were performed according to CLSI, 2022. Rifampin (640 μg/ml; 40×MIC) and ampicillin (100 μg/ml) were used to trigger persister cell formation from methicillin-resistant and -susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA and MSSA). The effect of Scrophularia striata Boiss. extract on the persister cells and Caco-2 cell line (cytotoxicity effect) were evaluated. The MIC of rifampin for MRSA and MSSA was 8 µg/ml and 16 µg/ml, respectively. The 25 mg/ml and 400 mg/ml concentrations of Scrophularia striata Boiss. extract had the lowest and the highest effect in deletion of MRSA and MSSA persister cells, respectively. Moreover, the 400 mg/ml of Scrophularia striata Boiss. extract had the highest effect in inhibiting the growth of Caco-2 cells. As an alternative and novel therapeutic option, instead of traditional antibiotics, the Scrophularia striata Boiss. extract may be useful to fight against the S. aureus persister cells as well as the cancer cells. Due to the difficulties in eradication of persister cells which may lead to untreatable persistent infections and become a serious challenge in medicine, this finding is encouraging, however, more related studies are required to confirm and generalize the results.

Keywords