Antimicrobial Activity of Terpens and Oxygen-Containing Terpenoids against Staphylococcus aureus

Staphylococcus aureus causes many diseases under pathological conditions. Due to the rapid development of antibiotic resistance, the search for alternative approaches to antimicrobial treatment of Staphylococci is challenging. Natural and synthetic terpenoids, due to their membranotropic properties, both exhibit antimicrobial properties and potentiate other antibiotics. The antimicrobial activity of 53 natural terpenes and their synthetic oxygen-containing derivatives, as well as their ability to potentiate the effect of conventional antimicrobials against S. aureus, has been assessed. It has been shown that (+)-3β,4β-carandiol and (−)-myrtenic acid increase the efficiency of amikacin, ceftriaxone, and miramistin up to 4-fold, thus suggesting them as promising agents for combination therapy with antimicrobials to reduce active concentrations of the latter.