Antibacterial, Antibiofilm and Anti-Virulence Activity of Biactive Fractions from Mucus Secretion of Giant African Snail Achatina fulica against Staphylococcus aureus Strains

Staphylococcus aureus is an important etiological agent that causes skin infections, and has the propensity to form biofilms, leading to significant mortality and morbidity in patients with wounds. Mucus secretion from the Giant African snail Achatina fulica is a potential source of biologically active substances that might be an important source for new drugs to treat resistant and biofilm-forming bacteria such as S. aureus. This study evaluated the effect of semi-purified fractions from the mucus secretion of A. fulica on the growth, biofilm formation and virulence factors of S. aureus. Two fractions: FMA30 (Mw >30 kDa) and FME30 (Mw 30-10 kDa) exhibited antimicrobial activity against S. aureus with a MIC50 of 25 and 125 mu g/mL, respectively. An inhibition of biofilm formation higher than 80% was observed at 9 mu g/mL with FMA30 and 120 mu g/mL with FME30. Furthermore, inhibition of hemolytic and protease activity was determined using a concentration of MIC20, and FME30 showed a strong inhibitory effect in the formation of clots. We report for the first time the effect of semi-purified fractions of mucus secretion of A. fulica on biofilm formation and activity of virulence factors such as alpha-hemolysin, coagulase and proteases produced by S. aureus strains.

Automated summary

The semi-purified fractions from the mucus secretion of Achatina fulica showed inhibition of growth and biofilm formation of Staphylococcus aureus, as well as affecting the activity of virulence factors produced by the bacteria.