Evaluation of the Anti-virulent Potentials of Ginger (Zingiber officinale L) and Garlic (Allium sativum) on S. aureus and P. aeruginosa

The degree of a pathogen to cause infection is termed virulence. Anti-virulence substances are substances that could inhibit the expression of virulence by these pathogens thereby limiting the degree of diseases caused. The study aimed to evaluate the anti-virulence of Zingiber officinale and Allium sativum on S. aureus and P. aeruginosa. The Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa associated with clinical specimens were collected from the Microbiology Research Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, Rivers State University. The extracts of Zingiber officinale and Allium sativum were prepared using standard method. The virulence considered included lecithinase, biofilm formation, coagulase, swarming, haemolysis and pyocyanin. Thus, the inhibition of this virulence as well as curring the isolates was carried out using standard method. Results showed that 30, 10, 20 and 20% of the S. aureus isolates were inhibited by the ginger extract from producing haemolysis, biofilm, coagulase and lecithinase, respectively. While 10%, 20%, 10% and 30% of the isolates were inhibited after treatment with garlic extract. For P. aeruginosa, 20%, 30%, 40%, 20% and 40% were inhibited by ginger extract from producing haemolysin, biofilm, lecithinase, pyocyanin and swarming, respectively. The susceptibility tests after curring with the extracts and acridine orange showed that both S. aureus and P. aeruginosa were susceptible to some of the antibiotics they resisted before. The spices having shown anti-virulence properties against these pathogens, they could be evaluated for better options in the fight against bacterial pathogens and antimicrobial resistance.