Tannic acid affects the phenotype of Staphylococcus aureus resistant to tetracycline and erythromycin by inhibition of efflux pumps

The widespread use of antibiotics created selective pressure for the emergence of strains that would persist despite antibiotic toxicity. The bacterial resistance mechanisms are several, with efflux pumps being one of the main ones. These pumps are membrane proteins with the function of removing antibiotics from the cell cytoplasm. Due to this importance, the aim of this work was to evaluate the inhibitory effect of tannic acid against efflux pumps expressed by the Staphylococcus aureus RN4220 and IS-58 strains. The efflux pump inhibition was assayed using a sub-inhibitory concentration of efflux pump standard inhibitors and tannic acid (MIC/8), observing their capacity to decrease the MIC of Ethidium bromide (EtBr) and antibiotics due the possible inhibitory effect of these substances. The MICs of EtBr and antibiotics were significantly different in the presence of tannic acid, indicating the inhibitory effect of this product against efflux pumps of both strains. These results indicate the possible usage of tannic acid as an inhibitor and an adjuvant in the antibiotic therapy against multidrug resistant bacteria (MDR).