Reuterin Demonstrates Potent Antimicrobial Activity Against a Broad Panel of Human and Poultry Meat Campylobacter spp. Isolates

Abstract

Reuterin is a broad-spectrum antimicrobial system produced by specific strains of <i>Lactobacillus reuteri</i> during anaerobic metabolism of glycerol. Acrolein is the main component responsible for its antimicrobial activity. Here, the sensitivity of <i>Campylobacter jejuni</i> (<i>n</i> = 51) and <i>Campylobacter coli</i> (<i>n</i> = 20) isolates from chicken meat and human stool samples to reuterin was investigated. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of <i>C. jejuni</i> and <i>C. coli</i> strains was measured between 1.5 and 3.0 µM of acrolein, below the MIC of the sensitive indicator strain <i>Escherichia coli</i> K12 (16.5 µM acrolein). The interaction of <i>C. jejuni</i> N16-1419 and the reuterin-producing <i>L. reuteri</i> PTA5_F13 was studied during 24 h co-cultures with or without glycerol. A high <i>C. jejuni</i> growth was observed in cultures without glycerol. In contrast, <i>C. jejuni</i> growth decreased from 7.3 ± 0.1 log CFU/mL to below detection limit (1 log CFU/mL) during co-cultures added with 28 mM glycerol. This bactericidal effect could be attributed to in situ reuterin production. The low MIC observed and the high sensitivity towards in situ produced reuterin suggests <i>L. reuteri</i> combined with glycerol, as a possible intervention option to reduce <i>Campylobacter</i> in the food chain.