Abstract
The World Health Organization points out that the opportunistic pathogen Klebsiella pneumoniae that causes various infections among others, urinary tract infections (UTIs), is one of the high-priority species due to a global problem of antimicrobial resistance. The aim of this study was to investigate antibacterial and anti-biofilm activities of chosen constituents of essential oils against NDM-1-producing, uropathogenic K. pneumoniae strains. The genes encoding lipopolysaccharide (uge, wabG), adhesin gene fimH (type I fimbriae) and gene encoding carbapenemase (bla(NDM-1)) for all tested strains were detected by PCR amplification. The K. pneumoniae ATCC BAA-2473 reference strain was uge- and bla(NDM-1)-positive. The effectiveness of fifteen essential oil compounds (EOCs) (linalool, β-citronellol, linalyl acetate, menthone, (-)-menthol, (+)-menthol, geraniol, eugenol, thymol, trans-anethole, farnesol, β-caryophyllene, (R)-(+)-limonene, 1,8-cineole, and carvacrol) was assessed by determining the MIC, MBC, MBC/MIC ratio against K. pneumoniae strains by the microdilution method. Anti-biofilm properties of these compounds were also investigated. Thymol, carvacrol and geraniol exhibited the best antibacterial and anti-biofilm activities against uropathogenic NDM-1-producing K. pneumoniae isolates. Results of our investigations provide a basis for more detailed studies of these phytochemicals on their application against uropathogenic K. pneumoniae.