Antiquorum and Antibiofilm Activities of Piper bogotense C. DC. against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Identification of Bioactive Compounds

Abstract

The present study describes the anti-biofilm and quorum sensing (QS) inhibitory potential of extracts and chemical constituents from <i>Piper bogotense</i>. Antibiofilm potential was determined through crystal violet assay against <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i>, while QS inhibition efficacy was determined through violacein inhibition assay using <i>Chromobacterium violaceum</i> as a bacterial model. Additionally, this study reports the effects of the chemical constituents isolated in <i>P. bogotense</i> against various virulent factors associated with QS, such as the percentage decrease in pyocyanin, elastase, and protease production. The chemical study led to the isolation and identification of two prenylated benzoic acids (<b>1</b> and <b>2</b>) and a prenylated hydroquinone <b>3</b>, of which compounds <b>1</b> and <b>2</b> are reported for the first time for <i>P. bogotense</i>. The ethanolic extract and the DCM fraction from <i>P. bogotense</i> stand out for reducing violacein production in <i>C. violaceum</i>, as well as the biofilm formation in <i>P. aeruginosa</i>. Compounds <b>2</b> and <b>3</b> stand out for having the lowest violacein production (43.8% and 68.3%), as well as the lowest production of virulence factors such as elastase (60.2% and 51.4%) and pyocyanin (39.7% and 33.2%). These results demonstrate the potential of <i>P. bogotense</i> components to be used as an alternative control against multidrug-resistant <i>P. aeruginosa</i>.