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Article

13-(2-Methylbenzyl) Berberine Is a More Potent Inhibitor of MexXY-Dependent Aminoglycoside Resistance than Berberine

1
Department of Microbiology, School of Pharmacy, Aichi Gakuin University, Nagoya 560-0043, Japan
2
Department of Organic and Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Aichi Gakuin University, Nagoya 560-0043, Japan
3
Department of Microbial Science and Host Defense, Meiji Pharmaceutical University, Noshio, Kiyose, Tokyo 560-0043, Japan
4
Department of Biomolecular Science and Regulation, Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research, Osaka University, Osaka 560-0043, Japan
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Antibiotics 2019, 8(4), 212; https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics8040212
Submission received: 24 September 2019 / Revised: 30 October 2019 / Accepted: 2 November 2019 / Published: 6 November 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Compounds as Antimicrobial Agents)

Abstract

:
We previously showed that berberine attenuates MexXY efflux-dependent aminoglycoside resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Here, we aimed to synthesize berberine derivatives with higher MexXY inhibitory activities. We synthesized 11 berberine derivatives, of which 13-(2-methylbenzyl) berberine (13-o-MBB) but not its regiomers showed the most promising MexXY inhibitory activity. 13-o-MBB reduced the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of various aminoglycosides 4- to 128 fold for a highly multidrug resistant P. aeruginosa strain. Moreover, 13-o-MBB significantly reduced the MICs of gentamicin and amikacin in Achromobacter xylosoxidans and Burkholderia cepacia. The fractional inhibitory concentration indices indicated that 13-o-MBB acted synergistically with aminoglycosides in only MexXY-positive P. aeruginosa strains. Time-kill curves showed that 13-o-MBB or higher concentrations of berberine increased the bactericidal activity of gentamicin by inhibiting MexXY in P. aeruginosa. Our findings indicate that 13-o-MBB inhibits MexXY-dependent aminoglycoside drug resistance more strongly than berberine and that 13-o-MBB is a useful inhibitor of aminoglycoside drug resistance due to MexXY.

1. Introduction

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a major cause of nosocomial infections. Treatment of P. aeruginosa infections with antimicrobial concentrations insufficient to inhibit P. aeruginosa growth results in the emergence of new multidrug resistant P. aeruginosa strains [1] that are difficult to eradicate and may increase mortality [2].
Drug efflux is a major mechanism leading to antimicrobial resistance in P. aeruginosa [3]. Four resistance-nodulation-division (RND)-type multidrug efflux pumps (MexAB-OprM [4], MexCD-OprJ [5], MexEF-OprN [6] and MexXY-OprM/OprA [7,8]) have been reported as drug efflux systems involved in the drug resistance of P. aeruginosa. Of these, only MexXY contributes to aminoglycoside drug resistance [8,9]. The MexXY-OprM system comprises a cytoplasmic membrane antibiotic-proton antiporter (MexY), an outer membrane porin (OprM), and a periplasmic membrane fusion protein (MexX) [10]. MexXY has multiple functions, including the expulsion of antibiotics. Wild-type P. aeruginosa expresses low MexXY levels but elevated MexXY has been detected in aminoglycoside-resistant P. aeruginosa strains [11,12]. Therefore, the development of MexXY inhibitors would allow the use of lower concentrations of aminoglycoside drugs that can cause severe side effects such as kidney damage [13].
There have been various reports of inhibitors of RND-type multidrug efflux pumps, but no clinical applications have been published to date [14]. Phenyl-arginine-β-naphthylamide (PAβN, MC-207,110), a well-known efflux pump inhibitor, does not inhibit aminoglycoside resistance due to MexXY [15]. We previously reported that berberine attenuates MexXY-dependent aminoglycoside resistance in P. aeruginosa [15], consistent with a recent report that berberine has high affinity to a MexXY model protein in silico [16].
Berberine is an isoquinoline quaternary alkaloid isolated from many kinds of medicinal plants such as Coptis chinensis, Coptis rhizome, Coptis japonica and Phellondendron amurense [17] and has weak antibacterial activity against Gram-negative bacteria such as P. aeruginosa [18]. Various derivatives of berberine have been developed and studied for their anti-hyperglycemic, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-Alzheimer’s disease and anti-microbial activities [19]. Derivatives with multidrug resistance pump inhibitory activity against Staphylococcus aureus [20] and that reduce fluconazole resistance against Candida albicans [21] have been reported. In addition, quaternary ammonium compounds inhibit the biofilm formation in P. aeruginosa and C. albicans have been reported [22].
The optimum concentration of berberine to inhibit MexXY in P. aeruginosa cells is more than 512 µg/mL [15], which is too high for clinical application. In this study, we aimed to synthesize berberine derivatives with higher MexXY inhibitory activities.

2. Results

2.1. Antibacterial Activity of Berberine Derivatives toward P. aeruginosa

We first measured the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 11 berberine derivatives (Figure 1) synthesized against P. aeruginosa mutants PAGUg1927, which expresses MexXY, and PAGUg1931, which does not express MexXY. A difference in the activity of a derivative toward the two strains indicates that the MexXY activity is not masked by the other four pumps (MexAB, MexCD, MexEF and MexVW) [15]. The MIC values of the berberine derivatives were lower in both strains compared to berberine (Table 1), suggesting that these berberine derivatives had higher anti-pseudomonas activity compared with berberine. These berberine derivatives showed similar MIC values that differed no more than, 4-fold. Their MIC values against PAGUg1927 were 2-fold greater than against PAGUg1931, indicating that the derivatives are MexXY substrates.

2.2. Inhibition of Drug Resistance in P. aeruginosa Using Combined Berberine Derivatives

We investigated the MexXY inhibitory activities of the berberine derivatives by measuring the MICs of gentamicin in the presence of the derivatives against P. aeruginosa mutants PAGUg1927 and PAGUg1931 (Table 2). The concentrations of the berberine derivatives were 1/2, 1/4, or 1/8 that of the MICs for PAGUg1931.
The MIC of gentamicin for PAGUg1927 in the presence of 256 µg/mL berberine was 128 µg/mL (Table 2), which is one-eighth that of gentamicin alone (Table 1). Compounds 1–5 and 7 exhibited apparently increased MexXY inhibitory activity, with compound 7 reducing the MIC of gentamicin 64-fold. Compound 7 was named 13-o-MBB. Compounds 8 and 9, which are regioisomers of 13-o-MBB, increased sensitivity to gentamicin by up to 4-fold and were the weakest MexXY inhibitors.
We also examined changes in sensitivity to drugs other than gentamicin by combination with the berberine derivatives (Table 3). The combined use of 13-o-MBB 128 µg/mL reduced the MIC values of various substrate drugs (amikacin, tobramycin, kanamycin, gentamicin, spectinomycin, norfloxacin, ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, carbenicillin, ethidium bromide, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, azithromycin and cefepime) targeting MexXY by 2-fold to 16-fold (Table 3). The regiosomer 13-(3-methylbenzyl) berberine bromide (13-m-MBB) increased the spectinomycin sensitivity of PAGUg1927 8-fold and that of cefepime 4-fold at 64 µg/mL, whereas the other derivatives did not change the sensitivity to spectinomycin more than 2-fold. In addition, the combined use of 64 µg/mL of 13-(4-methyl-benzyl)-berberine bromide (13-p-MBB) increased sensitivity t cefepime 4-fold for PAGUg1927. Moreover, the sensitizing action of 13-(3-methyl-benzyl)-berberine bromide and 13-(4-methyl-benzyl)-berberine bromide did not exceed that of 13-o-MBB for PAGUg1927. Taken together, these results suggest that the o-methyl group of 13-o-MBB increases antimicrobial sensitivity in a MexXY-dependent manner.
We investigated whether the inhibitory action of 13-o-MBB against MexXY-dependent drug resistance can be observed in PAGU 1606, a multidrug resistant P. aeruginosa clinical strain, and its MexXY-deficient strain PAGUg1659 (Table 4). The MIC of amikacin alone against PAGU 1606 was 256 µg/mL and 64 µg/mL when combined with berberine. In contrast, the combined use of 13-o-MBB and amikacin decreased the MIC to 16 µg/mL. Thus, 13-o-MBB inhibits amikacin resistance 4-fold more effectively than berberine in a MexXY-dependent drug resistant strain. Another aminoglycoside drug, 13-o-MBB, inhibited drug resistance two to four times stronger than berberine but had no greater effect on the drug resistance of PAGU 1606 than the other aminoglycosides. However, the MICs of norfloxacin, erythromycin and azithromycin were increased towards PAGUg1659, a pump-deficient strain.
The sensitizing action of 13-o-MBB for various aminoglycosides was compared with that of berberine at the same concentrations as tested against P. aeruginosa clinical strains but using Burkholderia cepacia PAGU 0013 and Achromobacter xylosoxidans PAGU 0002 (Table 5). The two non-P. aeruginosa strains are naturally resistant to aminoglycosides due to the presence of MexXY orthologs [7,23]. 13-o-MBB at the same concentration as berberine increased the sensitivity to the aminoglycosides more than 4-fold over that of berberine. In addition, comparison of the MICs of the aminoglycosides in combination with 13-o-MBB towards a clinical strain of P. aeruginosa and its mexXY-deficient strain provided similar MIC values. 13-o-MBB greatly increased the sensitivity to aminoglycoside drugs for P. aeruginosa, B. cepacia, and A. xylosoxidans, increasing the sensitivity to amikacin more than 128-fold and to gentamycin more than 512-fold for A. xylosoxidans.

2.3. Interaction between 13-o-MBB and Aminoglycoside Drugs

The fractional inhibitory concentration (FIC) values were determined using 13-o-MBB or berberine and gentamicin or amikacin in combination with P. aeruginosa strains PAGU 1606 and PAGUg1927 and their MexXY-defective mutants PAGUg1659 and PAGUg 1931 (Table 6). The combination of 13-o-MBB and amikacin or gentamicin showed a synergistic effect in the MexXY-expressing strain, showing that the MexXY-dependent aminoglycoside resistance inhibitory action of 13-o-MBB is synergistic. In addition, the MICs of 13-o-MBB and berberine were reduced only in combination with amikacin or gentamicin and only in the MexXY-expressing strain, showing that the combination of amikacin or gentamicin in the presence of MexXY increases the accumulation of 13-o-MBB and berberine in the cell.

2.4. Time-Killing Assay

The bactericidal activity of gentamicin together with berberine and 13-o-MBB against P. aeruginosa was investigated using PAGUg1933 and PAGUg1929. PAGUg1933 was killed after 4 h treatment with gentamicin at 2 µg/mL whereas the growth of PAGUg1929 was suppressed but no bactericidal action was observed (Figure 2). Treatment of PAGUg1929 for 4 h with 2 µg/mL gentamicin in combination with 256 µg/mL berberine reduced the number of colonies about 100-fold. In addition, treatment of PAGUg1929 with a combination of 2 µg/mL gentamicin and 64 µg/mL 13-o-MBB enhanced the bactericidal action of gentamicin more than 10-fold over that of 256 µg/mL berberine.

3. Discussion

The addition of 128 µg/mL 13-o-MBB increased the sensitivity to aminoglycosides by 2-fold to 8-fold in comparison with 256 µg/mL berberine in the MexXY-positive P. aeruginosa strain PAGUg1927 (Table 2 and Table 3). The antimicrobial activity of 13-o-MBB was not significantly different from that of the 13-o-MBB regioisomers 13-(3-methylbenzyl) berberine bromide and 13-(4-methylbenzyl) berberine bromide, although the drug resistance inhibitory action of 13-o-MBB on the MexXY system is greater than that of these two regioisomers. This indicates that 13-o-MBB has greater inhibitory action against MexXY-dependent drug resistance than berberine and the other berberine derivatives we synthesized.
The deletion of mexXY from PAGU 1606 strain generated the PAGUg1659 strain. The addition of 13-o-MBB increased PAGUg1659 resistance towards norfloxacin, erythromycin and azithromycin 2-fold to 4-fold. Norfloxacin, erythromycin and azithromycin are substrates for MexCD-OprM and increased resistance towards norfloxacin, erythromycin and azithromycin may be due to the induction of MexCD-OprJ [24].
The addition of 13-o-MBB 256 µg/mL increased the efficacies of azithromycin and gentamicin to a Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) breakpoint (amikacin is 64 µg/mL, gentamycin is 16 µg/mL) in a clinical strain of P. aeruginosa highly resistant to aminoglycosides. Amino acid residue Y613 within the loop of the drug binding pocket of MexY is directly involved in the recognition of aminoglycoside drugs, based on a decrease in sensitivity to aminoglycoside drugs upon mutation of Y613 have been reported [25]. Tobramycin and berberine have been reported to compete for Y613 on the docking simulations of tobramycin or berberine on MexY [16]. Furthermore, they claimed that the results of a combined berberine/tobramycin assay on different clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa were consistent with the in silico findings [16]. The results of our combination assay using berberine and 13-o-MBB with aminoglycosides are consistent with this report [16] and substantiate that the main mechanism of action of berberine and 13-o-MBB is competition for MexY inhibition. Another possible mechanism is suppression of MexY expression. However, Berberine decreased MexY mRNA only 0.8 to 0.9-fold have been reported [26]. Another reported that the MIC of amikacin and gentamicin was increased only up to 4-fold even in a strain P. aeruginosa that expresses 10–21 times more MexY mRNA than the PAO1 strain [12]. Our study of inhibited resistance by berberine showed that the gentamicin MIC for PAGU1606 was reduced 4-fold to 16-fold by berberine (Table 4), suggesting that the inhibition of MexY expression is not the main mechanism of action of berberine and 13-o-MBB.
13-o-MBB showed cytotoxicity against Caco-2 cells, a human epithelial colorectal adenocarcinoma cell line, at 30 µg/mL (data not shown). Thus, a concentration of 256 µg/mL 13-o-MBB could be toxic to human cells. There is thus a need to synthesize a compound that exhibits inhibitory action against MexXY system-dependent drug resistance at a lower concentration than 13-o-MBB and that is non-toxic to human cells.

4. Materials and Methods

4.1. Bacterial Strains and Growth Conditions

The bacterial strains used in this study are described in Table 7. Bacterial cells were grown in Luria (L) broth and on L agar (1.5%) under aerobic conditions at 37 °C, as previously described [27].

4.2. Antibiotic Susceptibility Assay

MICs were assessed in cation-adjusted Mueller–Hinton (MH) broth after about 18–22 h of incubation at 37 °C (for P. aeruginosa) or after about 20–24 h of incubation at 35 °C (for A. xylosoxidans and B. cepacia) using the two-fold serial micro-titer broth dilution method described previously [15]. The categorization as susceptible, intermediate, and resistant was performed according to the interpretive standards of the CLSI.
The FIC index was calculated as described previously [15]. The effects of the drugs were interpreted to be indicative of synergy when the index was ≤0.5.

4.3. Time-Killing Assay

We examined the bactericidal activity of gentamicin monotherapy or combination therapy with berberine or berberine derivatives towards PAGUg1929 and PAGUg1933. Each measurement was started by inoculating between 5 × 106 to 2 × 107 CFU/mL in cation-adjusted MH broth and incubating at 150 rpm at 37 °C on a shaker. Samples were withdrawn to measure the survival counts on MH agar plates at 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 h. The MH agar plates were incubated at 37 °C for 16–18 h. The concentrations of drugs tested were gentamicin 2 μg/mL, berberine 256 μg/mL, and 13-o-MBB 64 μg/mL. The fraction surviving vs. the control for each sample was determined by taking the average CFU/mL values of the treated samples and dividing by the value for the same sample at 0 h. Each experiment was repeated at least three times, and a representative experiment is shown.

4.4. Synthesis

4.4.1. General Synthesis Information

Melting points were measured on a Yanagimoto micro melting point hot-stage apparatus (MP-S3) and are reported as uncorrected values. 1H-NMR (TMS: δ: 0.00 ppm as an internal standard) and 13C-NMR (CDCl3: δ: 77.00 or DMSO-d6: 39.52 ppm as an internal standard) spectra were recorded on JEOL JNM-AL400 (400 MHz and 100 MHz) spectrometers in CDCl3 or DMSO-d6. Mass spectra were obtained on a JEOL JMP-DX300 instrument (70 eV, 300 mA). Chromatographic separations were accomplished using silica gel 60N (Kanto Chemical Co., Inc., Tokyo, Japan) or aluminum oxide 90 standardized (Merck KGaA., Inc., Darmstadt, Germany). Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) was performed using silica gel 60F254 and aluminum oxide 60F254 neutral (Merck KGaA, Inc., Darmstadt, Germany). All reagents were purchased from Wako Pure Chemical Industry, Osaka, Japan. Kanto Chemical Co., Inc., Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan. Kishida Chemical Co., Ltd., Osaka Japan and Sigma-Aldrich Co., LLC. St. Louis, MO, USA. Dihydroberberine was synthesized by the reduction of berberine according to the reported procedure [21].

4.4.2. 13-Benzylberberine Derivatives; General Procedure

Each benzyl bromide (1.0 mmol) was added in a dropwise manner to a stirred solution of KI (310 mg, 1.86 mmol, 1.86 equiv) and dihydroberberine (337 mg, 1.0 mmol, 1 equiv) in CH3CN (40 mL), and the resulting mixture was held at reflux for 4 h. The reaction mixture was then filtered, and the filtrate was collected and evaporated to dryness in vacuo to give the crude residue. The residue was purified by column chromatography over neutral alumina using CHCl3/CH3OH (50:1 to 20:1) as eluent and recrystallization to give the final compounds 1–11. Compounds 1–10 were known compounds and their characterisation data were identical to those given in the literature. Their melting points (m.p.) were as follows: Compound 1; m.p. 198–200 °C [21], Compound 2; m.p. 179–180 °C [21], Compound 3; m.p. 235–240 °C [21], Compound 4; m.p. 214–216 °C [21], Compound 5; m.p. 210–211 °C [34], Compound 6; m.p. 218–220 °C [35], Compound 7; m.p. 216–220 °C [36], Compound 8; m.p. 222–225 °C [21], Compound 9; m.p. 204–207 °C [36] and Compound 10; m.p. 22–230 °C [21].

4.4.3. Characterisation Data of 13-(2,6-Dichlorobenzyl)berberine Bromide (11)

Compound 11 is a yellow solid. Yield: 41%. 1H-NMR (DMSO-d6) δ: 9.95 (1H, s), 8.11 (1H, d, J = 9.3 Hz), 7.84 (1H, d, J = 9.3 Hz), 7.56 (1H, s), 7.37 (2H, d, J = 7.8 Hz), 7.23 (1H, t, J = 8.3 Hz), 7.15 (1H, s), 6.18 (2H, s), 5.16 (2H, s), 4.84 (2H, br), 4.09 (3H, s), 4.01 (3H, s), 3.08 (2H, br). 13C-NMR (DMSO-d6) δ: 150.0 (s), 149.3 (s), 146.5 (s), 144.2 (d), 144.1 (s), 138.2 (s), 134.9 (s), 134.7 (s), 133.6 (s), 131.9 (s), 131.3 (s), 129.5 (d), 129.2 (d), 125.8 (d), 121.0 (s), 120.5 (d), 120.4 (s), 110.9 (d), 108.1 (d), 102.0 (t), 62.0 (q), 56.9 (q), 56.7 (t), 32.9 (t), 27.4 (t). MS m/z: 494 (M–Br)+, 119, 85. m.p. 228–231 °C.

5. Conclusions

Eleven berberine derivatives were synthesized and tested for MexXY-dependent inhibition of gentamicin resistance using a Pseudomonas aeruginosa positive-MexXY strain and a negative-MexXY strain. 13-o-MBB showed the greatest inhibitory effect on MexXY-dependent gentamicin resistance. Regioisomers of 13-o-MBB exhibited no greater MexXY-dependent inhibition of gentamicin resistance than berberine. 13-o-MBB inhibited resistance to aminoglycosides 4-fold to 16-fold compared with berberine against the four tested P. aeruginosa clinical strains, and Achromobacter xylosoxidans and Burkholderia cepacia. These results indicate that 13-o-MBB inhibits the resistance to aminoglycosides in a MexXY-dependent manner more strongly than berberine. 13-o-MBB is thus a useful inhibitor of aminoglycoside drug resistance due to MexXY.

Author Contributions

K.K. and Y.M. have both significantly contributed to the creation of this manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. conceptualization, K.K. and Y.M.; methodology, K.K., M.M. and S.Y.; Investigation, K.K. and Y.M.; writing—original draft preparation, J.T. and R.K.; writing—review and editing, K.K.; visualization, Y.K. and K.N.; supervision, Y.K.; project administration, Y.K. and Y.M.; funding acquisition.

Funding

This research was funded by a research grant from Nagai Memorial Research Scholarship from the Pharmaceutical Society of Japan (to K.K.) and by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI Grant Number JP26460080.

Acknowledgments

This work was performed under the Research Program of “Dynamic Alliance for Open Innovation Bridging Human, Environment and Materials” in “Network Joint Research Center for Materials and Devices”.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

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Figure 1. Structure of berberine derivatives.
Figure 1. Structure of berberine derivatives.
Antibiotics 08 00212 g001
Figure 2. (a) Time-kill curves by the combination of gentamicin with berberine or 13-o-MBB against PAGUg1933, closed squares, control; closed triangles, berberine 256 µg/mL; closed diamonds, 13-o-MBB 64 µg/mL; open squares, gentamicin 2 µg/mL; open triangles, gentamicin 2 µg/mL with berberine 256 µg/mL; open diamonds, gentamicin 2 µg/mL with 13-o-MBB 64 µg/mL; (b) Time-kill curves by the combination of gentamicin with berberine or 13-o-MBB against PAGUg1929, closed squares, control; closed triangles, berberine 256 µg/mL; closed diamonds, 13-o-MBB 64 µg/mL; open squares, gentamicin 2 µg/mL; open triangles, gentamicin 2 µg/mL with berberine 256 µg/mL; open diamonds, gentamicin 2 µg/mL with 13-o-MBB 64 µg/mL.
Figure 2. (a) Time-kill curves by the combination of gentamicin with berberine or 13-o-MBB against PAGUg1933, closed squares, control; closed triangles, berberine 256 µg/mL; closed diamonds, 13-o-MBB 64 µg/mL; open squares, gentamicin 2 µg/mL; open triangles, gentamicin 2 µg/mL with berberine 256 µg/mL; open diamonds, gentamicin 2 µg/mL with 13-o-MBB 64 µg/mL; (b) Time-kill curves by the combination of gentamicin with berberine or 13-o-MBB against PAGUg1929, closed squares, control; closed triangles, berberine 256 µg/mL; closed diamonds, 13-o-MBB 64 µg/mL; open squares, gentamicin 2 µg/mL; open triangles, gentamicin 2 µg/mL with berberine 256 µg/mL; open diamonds, gentamicin 2 µg/mL with 13-o-MBB 64 µg/mL.
Antibiotics 08 00212 g002aAntibiotics 08 00212 g002b
Table 1. Antibacterial activities of berberine derivatives against PAGUg1931 and PAGUg1927.
Table 1. Antibacterial activities of berberine derivatives against PAGUg1931 and PAGUg1927.
Compound-RMIC of (µg/mL)
PAGUg1927PAGUg1931
GM2-10248
Ber3->512>512
1-H256128
2o-Br256128
3p-Br12864
4o-F512256
5o-Cl256128
6p-Cl256128
7o-CH3512256
8m-CH3256128
9p-CH3256128
10o-NO2512256
112,6-Cl12864
Note: R, side chain of the benzyl group of 13-benzylberberine derivatives; GM, gentamicin; Ber, berberine.
Table 2. Increase in sensitivity to gentamicin by combination with berberine derivatives.
Table 2. Increase in sensitivity to gentamicin by combination with berberine derivatives.
Concomitant Compound-RGM MIC with Berberine Derivative (µg/mL)
PAGUg1927PAGUg1931
256 *12864321682561286432168
Ber128256256512-8888
1-H3264128888
2o−Br326464488
3p−Br128256512488
4o−F3264128488
5o−Cl3264128488
6p−Cl256256256488
7o−CH3163264488
8m−CH3256256512488
9p−CH3256256512488
10o−NO2128128256888
112,6−Cl128256512488
Note: R, side chain of the benzyl group of 13−benzyl−berberine derivatives; GM, gentamicin; Ber, berberine, *; combined concentration (µg/mL).
Table 3. Increase in sensitivity to antibiotic resistance due to 13-o-MBB and its regioisomers.
Table 3. Increase in sensitivity to antibiotic resistance due to 13-o-MBB and its regioisomers.
DrugMIC in the Presence of Berberine Derivative (µg/mL)
PAGUg1927PAGUg1931
Ber 13-o-MBB13−m−MBB13−p−MBBBer 13-o-MBB13−m−MBB13−p−MBB
AMK4244810.50.50.51
TOB0.250.50.50.50.50.250.250.50.1250.25
KM128642562565126432326464
SPCM25664128128102464883264
NLFX0.250.06251110.0156250.0156250.0156250.0156250.015625
EM12864512256512161616816
CBPC1111111111
EtBr51212825625625664881664
Tc2188160.1250.1250.1250.1250.25
Cp4288822212
AZM646425625651288848
CEF10.250.125280.06250.1250.1250.1250.125
Note: Ber, combined berberine 256 µg/mL; 13-o-MBB, combined 13-o-MBB 128 µg/mL; 13−m−MBB, combined 13−m−MBB 64 µg/mL; 13−p−MBB, combined 13−p−MBB 64 µg/mL; AMK, amikacin; TOB, tobramycin; KM, kanamycin; SPCM, spectinomycin; NLFX, norfloxacin; EM, erythromycin; CBPC, carbenicillin; EtBr, ethidium bromide; Tc, tetracycline; Cp, chloramphenicol; AZM, azithromycin; CEF, cefepime.
Table 4. Inhibited resistance to aminoglycoside-based drugs by 13-o-MBB in PAGU 1606
Table 4. Inhibited resistance to aminoglycoside-based drugs by 13-o-MBB in PAGU 1606
DrugMIC (µg/mL)
PAGU 1606PAGUg1659
-Ber (256) 1Ber (128)Ber (64)13-o-MBB (256)13-o-MBB (128)13-o-MBB (64)-Ber (256)Ber (128)Ber (64)13-o-MBB (256)13-o-MBB (128)13-o-MBB (64)
AMK2566412812816323216888888
TOB256641281281632328888888
KM>20481024102420482565121024256256256256256256256
GM6448162440.50.250.250.50.250.250.5
SPCM>2048>2048>2048>20482048>2048>20482048204820482048102420482048
NLFX25625625625625625625664256256256128128128
CPFX6464646432323264646464323232
EM256128256256128256256128256256256256256256
CBPC>512>512>512>512>512>512>512>512>512>512>512>512>512>512
EtBr>512>512>512>512>512>512>512>512>512>512>512>512>512>512
Tc3216161616161616161616161616
Cp12864128128646464128128128128128128128
AZM2566464128646412832256256256128128128
CEF512512512512512512512512512512512512512512
Note: 1, values in parentheses are combined concentrations (µg/mL); Ber, berberine; AMK, amikacin; TOB, tobramycin; KM, kanamycin; GM, gentamicin; SPCM, spectinomycin; NLFX, norfloxacin; CPFX, ciprofloxacin; EM, erythromycin; CBPC, carbenicillin; EtBr, ethidium bromide; Tc, tetracycline; Cp, chloramphenicol; AZM, azithromycin; CEF, cefepime.
Table 5. Inhibition by 13-o-MBB of aminoglycoside resistance in P. aeruginosa clinical strains.
Table 5. Inhibition by 13-o-MBB of aminoglycoside resistance in P. aeruginosa clinical strains.
StrainMIC of Aminoglycoside (µg/mL)
AMKGMTOBKMSPEC
Ber13-o-MBBBer13-o-MBBBer13-o-MBBBer13-o-MBBBer13-o-MBB
PAGU 0974410.540.50.250.50.1250.125128323251212832
PAGUg 097510.50.50.250.1250.250.250.250.125643232323232
PAGU 1498328110241288256328>204851225651212832
PAGUg1565211888888512256256323232
PAGU 156925664322563281684>2048>20481024512256128
PAGUg162732323288888410245121024128128128
*PAGU 001312832412832464816482102412816
PAGU 0002>204825616>2048324512164>20482048256>204851264
Table 6. Antibacterial activities of berberine derivatives against P. aeruginosa.
Table 6. Antibacterial activities of berberine derivatives against P. aeruginosa.
StrainMIC (µg/mL) for AMK in the Presence of:MIC (µg/mL) for 13-o-MBB in the Presence of:FICMode of Interaction
13-o-MBBAMK
PAGUg1931112562562.0Indifferent
PAGUg1927825121280.5Synergy
PAGUg1659168>512>512>1.5Indifferent
PAGU 160625616>51264<0.5Synergy
StrainMIC (µg/mL) for AMK in the Presence of:MIC (µg/mL) for Berberne in the Presence of:FICMode of Interaction
BerberineAMK
PAGUg193111>512>512>2.0Indifferent
PAGUg192784>512512<1.0Synergy or Addition
PAGUg1659168>512>5121.5Indifferent
PAGU 160625664>512512<0.75Synergy or Addition
StrainMIC (µg/mL) for GM in the Presence of:MIC (µg/mL) for 13-o-MBB in the Presence of:FICMode of Interaction
13-o-MBBGM
PAGUg1931882562562.0Indifferent
PAGUg192710243251240.04Synergy
PAGUg16590.50.5>512>512>1.0Indifferent
PAGU 1606642>5128<0.5Synergy
StrainMIC (µg/mL) for GM in the Presence of:MIC(µg/mL) for Berberine in the Presence of:FICMode of Interaction
BerberineGM
PAGUg193188>512>512>1.0Indifferent
PAGUg19271024128>5128<0.5Synergy
PAGUg16590.50.5>512>512>1.0Indifferent
PAGU 1606648>512256<0.5Synergy
Note: GM, gentamicin; AMK, amikacin; FIC, fractional inhibitory concentration index.
Table 7. Bacterial strains and gene properties.
Table 7. Bacterial strains and gene properties.
Strain NameRelevant CharacteristicsReference
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
PAGU 0974PAO1 (K. Poole Lab), wild type[28]
PAGUg0975PAGU 0974ΔmexXY[29]
PAGU 1498PA7 Non-respiratory clinical isolate[8]
PAGUg1565PA7ΔmexXY-oprA[8]
PAGU 1569K2162 Pan-aminoglycoside-resistant clinical isolate[30]
PAGU 1606NCGM2. S1 Multidrug-resistant clinical isolate[31]
PAGUg1627K2162ΔmexXY[30]
PAGUg1659PAGU 1606ΔmexXY[8]
PAGUg1927YM34 ΔmexZ, mexVW:: gfp-aacC1[15]
PAGUg1929YM34 ΔmexZ, mexVW[15]
PAGUg1931PAGUg1927::ΔmexXY[15]
PAGUg1933PAGUg1929::ΔmexXY[15]
Others
PAGU 0002ATCC 27061 Achromobacter xylosoxidans subsp. xylosoxidans[32]
PAGU 0013ATCC 25416 Burkholderia cepacia[33]

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Kotani, K.; Matsumura, M.; Morita, Y.; Tomida, J.; Kutsuna, R.; Nishino, K.; Yasuike, S.; Kawamura, Y. 13-(2-Methylbenzyl) Berberine Is a More Potent Inhibitor of MexXY-Dependent Aminoglycoside Resistance than Berberine. Antibiotics 2019, 8, 212. https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics8040212

AMA Style

Kotani K, Matsumura M, Morita Y, Tomida J, Kutsuna R, Nishino K, Yasuike S, Kawamura Y. 13-(2-Methylbenzyl) Berberine Is a More Potent Inhibitor of MexXY-Dependent Aminoglycoside Resistance than Berberine. Antibiotics. 2019; 8(4):212. https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics8040212

Chicago/Turabian Style

Kotani, Kenta, Mio Matsumura, Yuji Morita, Junko Tomida, Ryo Kutsuna, Kunihiko Nishino, Shuji Yasuike, and Yoshiaki Kawamura. 2019. "13-(2-Methylbenzyl) Berberine Is a More Potent Inhibitor of MexXY-Dependent Aminoglycoside Resistance than Berberine" Antibiotics 8, no. 4: 212. https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics8040212

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