Evaluation of antimicrobial effects of saponin isolated from licorice plant on lung cell line induced by Streptococcus pneumonia

Subject Areas : Journal of Comparative Pathobiology

Mahyar Haki ¹ , Zohre Eftekhari ²

1 - Biomedical Engineering Department, Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), Tehran, Iran.
2 - Biotechnology Department, Institute of Pasteur, Tehran, Iran

Received: 2024-07-10 Accepted : 2024-09-19 Published : 2024-09-21

Keywords: saponin, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Antimicrobial effect, Regulation of the immune system,

Abstract :

Airway inflammation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and anti-inflammatory therapy effectively improves the symptoms of these diseases. There are more than 30 species of the genus Glycyrrhiza, which are widely distributed throughout the world. Licorice root extracts have beneficial effects in the treatment of throat infections, tuberculosis, respiratory diseases, liver, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and immunodeficiency. Therefore, the focus of this article is on the antibacterial mechanism of saponins of licorice extracts and its therapeutic effects on Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria. This study aims to investigate the saponin extracted from Glycyrrhiza glabra and its antibacterial properties. Lipids and phenolic compounds were removed during the saponin separation process based on the Soxhlet apparatus. Using the broth microdilution method, antimicrobial activity against Streptococcus pneumoniae and its effects on IFN-gamma interferon activity were investigated. The results of MIC and MBC analysis showed that no inhibition zone was observed at the concentration of 10 μmol. However, at concentrations of 20 µM(6.4 mm), 40 (17.6 mm) and 100 (21.9 mm) bacterial inhibition zones were comparable to the standards. The results of ELISA showed that the immune modulating effect is related to the increase of IFN-γ in addition to not hurting cell growth and survival rate. In conclusion, this study shows that even at low concentrations, Glycyrrhiza glabra saponin shows promising immunomodulatory and antibacterial activities against S.pneumoniae in vitro.

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