Inhibitory Effect of Sertraline on Vibrio Parahaemolyticus

Recently, there have been increasing reports on the emergence of antibiotic resistance in environmental and seafood isolates of Vibrio parahaemolyticus. Therefore, it is urgent to find strategies to replace traditional antimicrobial agents for antibacterial control of Vibrio parahaemolyticus contamination and infection. In this study, the antibacterial activity and anti-biofilm formation ability of sertraline against Vibrio parahaemolyticus were evaluated through minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) test, minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) test, growth curve test, motivity test, and crystal violet staining test, and transmission electron microscope observation of the morphological changes of Vibrio parahaemolyticus. Meanwhile, the attenuating effect of sertraline on Vibrio parahaemolyticus was explored by detecting and analyzing the influence of sertraline on the transcription of virulence genes of Vibrio parahaemolyticus. The results indicate that the MIC of sertraline on Vibrio parahaemolyticus is 32 μg/mL and the MBC is 64 μg/mL, which are able to damage the cell membrane and cell wall of Vibrio parahaemolyticus. Furthermore, sertraline can lead to shrinkage and shriveling at MIC concentration, and rupture and leakage of intracellular substances at MBC concentration. Sertraline can significantly inhibit the swimming and swarm motion of Vibrio parahaemolyticus with the inhibition rates of 88.6% and 71.5%, respectively, at the subinhibitory concentration. The ability of sertraline to inhibit biofilm formation of Vibrio parahaemolyticus shows a linear correlation of sertraline's concentration, and the inhibition rates of 8, 16, 32 and 64 μg/mL sertraline on the biofilm formation of Vibrio parahaemolyticus ATCC17802 are 66.9%, 79.5%, 88.3% and 89.3%, respectively. Sertraline can significantly inhibit the expression of virulence genes fliA, ompW and aphA of Vibrio parahaemolyticus with inhibition rates of 71.9%, 88.7% and 77. 3% at subinhibitory concentration, respectively. The results show that sertraline has a good antibacterial activity and anti-biofilm formation ability against Vibrio parahaemolyticus, and it can reduce the transcription level of virulence genes under the allowable concentration of plasma without affecting its growth.