Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology

The Korean Society for Microbiology and Biotechnology (한국미생물·생명공학회)
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Serotype-Dependent Inhibition of Streptococcus pneumoniae Growth by Short-Chain Fatty Acids

  • Suwon Lim (Department of Oral Microbiology and Immunology, and Dental Research Institute, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University) ;
  • Dongwook Lee (Department of Oral Microbiology and Immunology, and Dental Research Institute, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University) ;
  • Sungho Jeong (Department of Oral Microbiology and Immunology, and Dental Research Institute, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University) ;
  • Jeong Woo Park (Department of Oral Microbiology and Immunology, and Dental Research Institute, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University) ;
  • Jintaek Im (Department of Oral Microbiology and Immunology, and Dental Research Institute, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University) ;
  • Bokeum Choi (Department of Oral Microbiology and Immunology, and Dental Research Institute, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University) ;
  • Donghyun Gwak (Department of Oral Microbiology and Immunology, and Dental Research Institute, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University) ;
  • Cheol-Heui Yun (Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, and Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University) ;
  • Ho Seong Seo (Research Division for Biotechnology, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute) ;
  • Seung Hyun Han (Department of Oral Microbiology and Immunology, and Dental Research Institute, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University)
  • Received : 2023.09.04
  • Accepted : 2023.11.14
  • Published : 2024.01.28
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Abstract

Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) is an opportunistic pathogen that can cause severe infectious diseases such as pneumonia, meningitis, and otitis media. Despite the availability of antibiotics and pneumococcal vaccines against some invasive serotypes, pneumococcal infection remains a tremendous clinical challenge due to the increasing frequency of infection by antimicrobial resistant, nonencapsulated, and/or non-vaccine serotype strains. Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), which are produced at various mucosal sites in the body, have potent antimicrobial activity, including inhibition of pathogen growth and/or bacterial biofilm formation. In this study, we investigated the antimicrobial activity of SCFAs (acetate, propionate, and butyrate) against various serotypes pneumococci. Propionate generally inhibited the growth of S. pneumoniae serotypes included in the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) 13, except for serotypes 3 and 7F, though butyrate and acetate showed no or low inhibition, depending on the serotypes. Of note, butyrate showed strong inhibition against serotype 3, the most prevalent invasive strain since the introduction of the PCV. No SCFAs showed inhibitory effects against serotype 7F. Remarkably, the nonencapsulated pneumococcal strain had more sensitivity to SCFAs than encapsulated parental strains. Taken together, these results suggest that propionate showing the most potent inhibition of pneumococcal growth may be used as an alternative treatment for pneumococcal infection, and that butyrate could be used against serotype 3, which is becoming a serious threat.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by grants from the National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea, which is funded by the Korean government (NRF-2018R1A5A2024418, NRF-2019R1A2C2007041, NRF-2022M3A9F3082330, and RS-2022-00164722). The cartoon in graphical abstract was created with BioRender.com.

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