The past decade has brought a significant rise in antimicrobial resistance, and the ESKAPE pathogens (Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterobacter species) have considerably aggravated a threat to public health, causing nosocomial infections worldwide. The objective of the current study was to isolate novel probiotic strain with antimicrobial activity against multidrug-resistant ESKAPE pathogens. For this purpose, eighteen breastfed infant faeces were collected and lactic acid bacteria (LAB) with antagonistic activity were isolated. Out of 102 anaerobic LAB isolated, only nine exhibited inhibitory activity against all ESKAPE pathogens. These selected nine isolates were further characterized for their probiotic attributes such as lysozyme tolerance, simulated gastrointestinal tolerance, cellular auto-aggregation and cell surface hydrophobicity. Bile salt deconjugation and cholesterol-lowering capacity was also determined. Among all nine, isolate LBM220 was found to possess superior probiotic potential. Confirmatory identification of isolate LBM220 was done by both 16S rRNA sequence analysis and mass spectrometric analysis using MALDI-TOF. Based on BLAST result, isolate LBM220 was identified as Lactobacillus gasseri. Phylogenetic analysis of Lactobacillus gasseri LBM220 [accession number MN097539] was performed. Also, detailed safety evaluation study of Lact. gasseri LBM220 showed the presence of intrinsic antibiotic resistance and the absence of hemolytic, DNase, gelatinase and toxic mucinolytic activity. Time kill assay was also performed to confirm the strong kill effect of Lact. gasseri LBM220 on all six multidrug resistant ESKAPE pathogens. Thus, Lact. gasseri LBM220 can be utilized and explored as potential probiotic with therapeutic intervention.
Keywords: Cholesterol reducing ability; ESKAPE pathogens; Infant faeces; Lactic acid bacteria; Probiotic.