Abstract

Studies on epidemiology and screening of a quorum quencher from Melia dubia against urinary tract infections during pregnancy

Author(s): S.Adline Princy, V.Praveen Krishna, D.Bharath, R.Vasudevan

Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) is accountable for maternal and neonatal morbidity and about a third of the pregnant women have UTI at some point of gestation. Staphylococcus aureus is one of the microorganism commonly found causing UTI and is of high concern due to high occurances of multi-drug resistance. The epidemiology of the disease among pregnant women in the region of Thanjavur was studied to obtain an understanding of the prevelance of UTI and the organisms causing it. S. aureus uses Quorum sensing as a means of communication, which is regulated by the pleiotropic pathways ofAgr/ Sar. To tackle the microbe, the efficacy of the extracts of Melia dubia, a plant known for its antimicrobial properties, has been employed. The crude library of compounds fromMelia dubia extractswas discovered to have anti-biofilm rather than bactericidal properties. Docking studies were executed with the characterized compounds bindingwith Sar andAgr receptors to predict the pathway of quorum quenching activity.