Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

High Activity of Selective Essential Oils against Stationary Phase Borrelia burgdorferi

Jie Feng, Shuo Zhang, Wanliang Shi, Nevena Zubcevik, Judith Miklossy, Ying Zhang
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/130898
Jie Feng
1Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Shuo Zhang
1Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Wanliang Shi
1Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Nevena Zubcevik
2Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Charlestown, MA, 02129, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Judith Miklossy
3International Alzheimer Research Centre, Prevention Alzheimer International Foundation, Martigny-Croix, Switzerland
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Ying Zhang
1Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: yzhang@jhsph.edu
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Preview PDF
Loading

ABSTRACT

Although the majority of patients with Lyme disease can be cured with the standard 2-4 week antibiotic treatment, about 10-20% of patients continue to suffer from post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS). While the cause for this is debated, one possibility is due to persisters not killed by the current Lyme antibiotics. It has been reported that essential oils have antimicrobial activities and some have been used by patients with persisting Lyme disease symptoms. However, the activity of essential oils against the causative agent Borrelia burgdorferi (B. burgdorferi) has not been carefully studied. Here, we evaluated the activity of 34 essential oils against B. burgdorferi stationary phase culture as a model for persisters. We found that many essential oils had varying degrees of activity against B. burgdorferi, with top 5 essential oils (oregano, cinnamon bark, clove bud, citronella, and wintergreen) at a low concentration of 0.25% showing more activity than the persister drug daptomycin. Interestingly, some highly active essential oils were found to have excellent anti-biofilm ability as shown by their ability to dissolve the aggregated biofilm-like structures. The top 3 hits, oregano, cinnamon bark and clove bud, completely eradicated all viable cells without regrowth in subculture. Carvacrol was found to be the most active ingredient of oregano oil showing excellent activity against B. burgdorferi stationary phase cells, while p-cymene and α-terpinene had no apparent activity. Future studies are needed to characterize and optimize the active essential oils in drug combinations in vitro and in vivo for improved treatment of persistent Lyme disease.

IMPORTANCE There is a huge need for effective treatment of patients with Lyme disease who suffer from PTLDS. Recent in vitro and in vivo studies suggest that B. burgdorferi develops persisters that are not killed by the current Lyme antibiotics as a possible contributor to this condition. Although essential oils are used by patients with Lyme disease with variable improvement in symptoms, their anti-borrelia activity has not been carefully studied. Here we found that not all essential oils have adequate anti-borrelia activity and identified some highly potent essential oils (oregano, cinnamon bark, clove bud) that have even higher anti-persister and anti-biofilm activity than the persister drug daptomycin. Carvacrol was found to be the most active ingredient of oregano oil and have the potential to serve as a promising oral persister drug. Our findings may have implications for developing improved treatment of persisting Lyme disease.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted May 17, 2017.
Download PDF
Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
High Activity of Selective Essential Oils against Stationary Phase Borrelia burgdorferi
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
High Activity of Selective Essential Oils against Stationary Phase Borrelia burgdorferi
Jie Feng, Shuo Zhang, Wanliang Shi, Nevena Zubcevik, Judith Miklossy, Ying Zhang
bioRxiv 130898; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/130898
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo LinkedIn logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
High Activity of Selective Essential Oils against Stationary Phase Borrelia burgdorferi
Jie Feng, Shuo Zhang, Wanliang Shi, Nevena Zubcevik, Judith Miklossy, Ying Zhang
bioRxiv 130898; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/130898

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Microbiology
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (3482)
  • Biochemistry (7335)
  • Bioengineering (5305)
  • Bioinformatics (20217)
  • Biophysics (9988)
  • Cancer Biology (7712)
  • Cell Biology (11276)
  • Clinical Trials (138)
  • Developmental Biology (6426)
  • Ecology (9926)
  • Epidemiology (2065)
  • Evolutionary Biology (13294)
  • Genetics (9353)
  • Genomics (12564)
  • Immunology (7685)
  • Microbiology (18977)
  • Molecular Biology (7425)
  • Neuroscience (40931)
  • Paleontology (299)
  • Pathology (1226)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (2131)
  • Physiology (3145)
  • Plant Biology (6847)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (1272)
  • Synthetic Biology (1893)
  • Systems Biology (5306)
  • Zoology (1086)