Alterations of total antioxidant capacity of pathogen cultures under the influence of novel chemical compounds

Abstract

Introduction. The major and most common mechanisms for almost all antimicrobial substances is the induction of oxidative stress responses within the pathogen cells by accumulation of free radicals, which mediate a whole range of classical antimicrobial mechanisms of action observed by researchers. Thus, this present study was conducted to reveal some biochemical changes regarding the antioxidant status of pathogenic microorganisms under the influence of novel chemical compounds selected.

Material and methods. The copper (II) coordination compounds were included as in vitro study material, namely, Co (II), Zn (II) and aromatic propenones, synthesized at the Department of Inorganic Chemistry, the State University of Moldova. The antimicrobial properties were tested on five reference strains. The ABTS test was applied to determine the antioxidant activity, thus determining the total antioxidant capacity using the ABTS˙⁺ cation radical.

Results. The most vulnerable to high-intensity oxidative stress are the reference strains of Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 2592 and Bacillus cereus ГИСК 8035, the most resistant being the reference culture Salmonella enterica (S. Abony ГИСК 03/03y).

Conclusions. The study results showed that the selected compounds might substantially reduce the total antioxidant capacity in the studied reference cultures.