Anti-Virulence Effects of Pomegranate Peel Extracts on Most Common Urinary Tract Infection Pathogens in Pregnant Women

Abstract

A total of 100 morning mid-stream urine samples from pregnant women were streaked on general and selective media, the growing bacteria were diagnosed biochemically and by using Api system.The results revealed the occurrence of 52 isolates of pathogenic bacteria which were dividedin to Gram– positive bacteria 43 (83%) and Gram – negative bacteria9 (17%).Then the ability of S. aureus and E. coli bacteria which were responsible for the highest percentage of urinary tract infection to form biofilm were tested by using tube methods (TM), in order to select one isolate for each bacteria that having the highest ability to form the biofilm to continue the other steps of the study. Then the ability of these two isolates to form some virulence factors such as hemolysin, protease, β – lactamase , biofilm and adherenceare tested.Pomegranate peel had been extracted by three solvents (alcoholic 96%, aqueous and the acetone 70%). The inhibition zones diameters of the pomegranate peel extracts against studied bacteria increase significantly with concentrations increase. The MICof the extracts was determined against studied bacteria which reached to 0.04 g/ml when used both the ethanol and the acetone extracts, while reached to 0.06 g/ml in the aqueous extract. The ability of two studied bacteria to produce virulence factors were compared before and after treated with MIC of  extracts which revealed there is not effect of the extracts on the ability of studied bacteria to produce hemolysin and protease enzymes, while both S. aureus and E. coli bacteria loss its ability to produce β – lactamaseenzyme after treated with MIC of the extracts. In addition extracts were affected largely on adherence activity & biofilm forming ability of tested bacteria and there affect difference with the different kinds of the extracts.