Anethole inhibits growth of recently emerged multidrug resistant toxigenic Vibrio cholerae O1 El Tor variant strains in vitro

To search natural compounds having inhibitory effect on bacterial growth is important,particularly in view of growing multidrug resistant (MDR) strains of bacterial pathogens.Like other bacterial pathogens, MDR Vibrio cholerae, the causative agentof diarrheal disease cholera, is becoming a great concern. As an approach of searching newantimicrobial agents, here, we show that anethole, a well-studied natural component ofsweet fennel and star anise seeds, could potentially inhibit the growth of MDR O1 El Torbiotype, the ongoing 7th cholera pandemic variant strains of toxigenic V.cholerae. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of anethole againstdiverse O1 El Tor biotype strains is evaluated as 200µg/ml. Moreover, the effect of anethole isbactericidal and exerts rapid-killing action on V.cholerae cells. This study is the first report which demonstratesthat anethole, purified from natural compound, is a potent inhibitor of growth oftoxigenic V. cholerae. Our data suggest that anethole could be apotential antimicrobial drug candidate, particularly against MDR V.cholerae mediated infections.