Antibacterial mechanism of oregano essential oil

Meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is highly pathogenic and multi-drug resistant, so MRSA infection has become one of the important pathogens of nosocomial infections. Oregano essential oil is an effective natural antibacterial agent and has been found to be effective in inhibiting MRSA. In this experiment, the effects of oregano essential oil on respiratory metabolism, energy metabolism and genetic material of MRSA were studied with the metabolism as the starting point. At the same time, the effects of oregano essential oil on the relative expression of pvl in MRSA were further studied from the genetic level. The results indicate that oregano essential oil can cause irreversible damage to the MRSA cell membrane and cause leakage of biological macromolecules in the cell. Oregano essential oil inhibits the tricarboxylic acid cycle pathway and its key enzymes and affects the metabolites. In addition, the main component of oregano essential oil, carvacrol, can be chimeric with DNA, and oregano essential oil inhibits the relative expression of the pvl gene.