Chemical composition, antibacterial activity, and synergistic effects with conventional antibiotics and nitric oxide production inhibitory activity of essential oil from geophila repens (L.) I.M. Johnst

Abstract

Geophila repens (L.) I.M. Johnst, a perennial herb, belongs to the Rubiaceae family. In this study, we identified the chemical composition of the Geophila repens essential oil (GR-EO) for the first time. Totally, seventy-seven compounds were identified according to GC and GC-MS, which represent 98.0% of the oil. And the major components of GR-EO were β-caryophyllene (23.3%), β-elemene (8.0%), farnesyl butanoate (7.4%), myrcene (3.5%), and trans-nerolidol (3.3%). Then we evaluated the antibacterial activities of GR-EO and the synergistic effects of GR-EO in combination with commercial antibiotics using the microdilution and Checkerboard method. The results demonstrated that GR-EO possessed an excellent broad spectrum antibacterial activity, especially against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Bacillus subtilis. It also showed that the combined application of GR-EO with antibiotics led to synergistic effects in most cases. And the most prominent synergistic effect was noticed when GR-EO was in combination with Streptomycin and tested against Escherichia coli (fractional inhibitory concentration indices (FICI) of 0.13). Additionally, the results of a Griess assay revealed that GR-EO exhibited a potent inhibitory effect on NO production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated RAW 264.7 (murine macrophage) cells. In conclusion, the combination of GR-EO and the commercial antibiotics has significant potential for the development of new antimicrobial treatment and reduction of drug resistance.