Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40883487›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2025

Human vaginal Lactobacillus Jensenii -derived (-)-Terpinen-4-ol restores antibiotic sensitivity by inhibiting efflux pumps in drug resistant E. coli and K. pneumoniae.

Veena G Nair, Vineetha K Unnikrishnan, Niraimathi Muralidharan, Badri N S Venkatathri, Rene Christena Lowrence, Rajesh Ybrd, Dhiviya Narbhavi, Anupriya A, Prabhusaran N, Saisubramanian Nagarajan

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Veena G NairAntimicrobial Resistance Lab, Centre for Research in Infectious diseases, School of Chemical and Biotechnology, SASTRA Deemed to be University, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, 613401, India.
Vineetha K UnnikrishnanAntimicrobial Resistance Lab, Centre for Research in Infectious diseases, School of Chemical and Biotechnology, SASTRA Deemed to be University, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, 613401, India.
Niraimathi MuralidharanAntimicrobial Resistance Lab, Centre for Research in Infectious diseases, School of Chemical and Biotechnology, SASTRA Deemed to be University, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, 613401, India.
Badri N S VenkatathriAntimicrobial Resistance Lab, Centre for Research in Infectious diseases, School of Chemical and Biotechnology, SASTRA Deemed to be University, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, 613401, India.
Rene Christena LowrenceFormerly with the Antimicrobial Resistance Lab, Centre for Research in Infectious diseases, School of Chemical and Biotechnology, SASTRA Deemed to be University, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, 613401, India.
Rajesh YbrdDepartment of Chemistry, School of Chemical and Biotechnology, SASTRA Deemed University, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, 613 401, India.
Dhiviya NarbhaviDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, TSRMMCH&RC, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India.
Anupriya ADepartment of Microbiology, TSRMMCH&RC, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India.
Prabhusaran NResearch Faculty, Institutional Research Board TSRMMCH&RC, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India.
Saisubramanian NagarajanAntimicrobial Resistance Lab, Centre for Research in Infectious diseases, School of Chemical and Biotechnology, SASTRA Deemed to be University, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, 613401, India. sai@scbt.sastra.edu.

Funding

Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, India DST/WOS-B/HN-32/2021Indian Council of Medical Research EMDR/SG/14/2024/01-04170Indian Council of Medical Research OMI/03/2022/ECD
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Probiotics present a promising preventive strategy for addressing urinary tract infections (UTIs) and serve as a viable alternative to conventional antimicrobial treatments. The integration of Lactobacillus-derived efflux pump inhibitors (EPIs) with conventional antibiotics presents a promising strategy to enhance the efficacy of treatments against antibiotic-resistant superbugs. In this study, we isolated eight vaginal Lactobacillus spp. from 54 healthy Indian women to explore their probiotic properties, specifically the ability of cell-free supernatant (CFS) from Lactobacillus jensenii. to inhibit efflux in Multi Drug Resistant (MDR) E. coli and K. pneumoniae. From the CFS, we obtained seven fractions, among which compound 7 (C7) markedly reduced the MIC of erythromycin against the K. pneumoniae MTCC 432 strain by 32-fold from 64 to 2 µg and restored its sensitivity, indicating potent efflux inhibitory activity. Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis identified one major compound from the C7 fraction as Cyclohexen-1-ol, 4-methyl-1-(1-methylethyl)-, (R)-, also known as (-)-Terpinen-4-ol. In vivo studies using zebrafish infected with clinical strain of K. pneumoniae 1845 followed by treatment with (-)-Terpinen-4-ol and erythromycin caused a significant 7-log reduction in bacterial bioburden. Additionally, time-kill assay demonstrated that the combination of erythromycin with (-)-Terpinen-4-ol caused a remarkable 7-log reduction in both K. pneumoniae, and E. coli cell counts. Furthermore, (-)-Terpinen-4-ol -erythromycin combination exhibited a six-log reduction in bacterial burden in infected T24 bladder cell lines and was found to be non-toxic. This study underscores the efflux inhibitory potential of (-)-Terpinen-4-ol extracted from the CFS of human vaginal probiotics, paving the way for future pharmacological research and therapeutic applications.

Indexed as

Anti-Bacterial AgentsEscherichia coliKlebsiella pneumoniaeLactobacillusVaginaAnimalsDrug Resistance, Multiple, BacterialErythromycinFemaleHumansMicrobial Sensitivity TestsProbioticsZebrafishAnti-Bacterial AgentsErythromycinAntibiotic resistanceCell free supernatantE. coli and K. pneumoniaeEfflux pump inhibitionHuman vaginal Lactobacillus(-)-Terpinen-4-ol

Identifiers

PMID40883487
PMCPMC12397448

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.