Efficacy of Locally Isolated Lactic Acid Bacteria Against Antibiotic-Resistant Uropathogens

BACKGROUND Antibiotic resistance represents a serious global health threat to public health, so infections such as pneumonia and urinary tract infection (UTI) are becoming harder to treat. Therefore, it is necessary to develop an action plan to restrain the problem of antibiotic resistance. One approach in UTI control could be the use of lactobacilli because these indigenous inhabitants in human intestine have been found to play an important role in protecting the host from various infections. OBJECTIVES We sought to check the efficacy of locally isolated Lactobacillus species to eradicate antibiotic-resistant pathogenic bacteria causing UTI. MATERIALS AND METHODS Lactic acid bacteria isolated from spoiled fruits and vegetables and grown in MRS medium were screened against multi-drug-resistant Candida albicans, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, and Enterococcus fecalis. RESULTS Fifty-four lactic acid bacteria were isolated from spoiled fruits and vegetables, of which 11 Gram-positive and catalase-negative Lactobacillus isolates were identified by carbohydrate assimilation profiles as Lactobacillus acidophilus, L. paracasei, L. delbrueckii, L. casei, L. helveticus, L. brevis, L. salivarius, L. fermentum, L. rhamnosus, L. animalis, and L. plantarum. The latter organism had the highest abundance of all the samples, so its isolates were also verified through 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The isolated Lactobacilli were screened against multi-drug-resistant uropathogens, viz. C. albicans, P. aeruginosa, K. pneumoniae, E. fecalis, and E. coli. The growth inhibition zone (GIZ) was over 10 mm against all the uropathogenic test organisms, where L. fermentum and L. plantarum strains demonstrated remarkable inhibitory activities against E. coli and E. faecalis, with a GIZ up to 28 mm. The susceptibility test to 16 antibiotics showed multidrug resistance (3 to 5 antibiotics) among all the tested uropathogens. CONCLUSIONS The obtained results revealed that all the Lactobacillus isolates displayed antimicrobial activity against 6 out of 7 antibiotic-resistant uropathogens, indicating that these bacteria could represent a good ecological plan for the control and prevention of UTI.