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Review
. 2023 Jan 27;12(2):254.
doi: 10.3390/antibiotics12020254.

trans-Cinnamaldehyde as a Novel Candidate to Overcome Bacterial Resistance: An Overview of In Vitro Studies

Federica Usai  1 , Antonella Di Sotto  1
Affiliations
Review

trans-Cinnamaldehyde as a Novel Candidate to Overcome Bacterial Resistance: An Overview of In Vitro Studies

Federica Usai et al. Antibiotics (Basel). .

Abstract

The increasing of drug-resistant bacteria and the scanty availability of novel effective antibacterial agents represent alarming problems of the modern society, which stimulated researchers to investigate novel strategies to replace or assist synthetic antibiotics. A great deal of attention has been devoted over the years to essential oils that contain mixtures of volatile compounds and have been traditionally exploited as antimicrobial remedies. Among the essential oil phytochemicals, remarkable antimicrobial and antibiotic-potentiating activities have been highlighted for cinnamaldehyde, an α,β-unsaturated aldehyde, particularly abundant in the essential oils of Cinnamomum spp., and widely used as a food additive in industrial products. In line with this evidence, in the present study, an overview of the available literature has been carried out in order to define the bacterial sensitizing profile of cinnamaldehyde. In vitro studies displayed the ability of the substance to resensitize microbial strains to drugs and increase the efficacy of different antibiotics, especially cefotaxime, ciprofloxacin, and gentamicin; however, in vivo, and clinical trials are lacking. Based on the collected findings, cinnamaldehyde appears to be of interest as an adjuvant agent to overcome superbug infections and antibiotic resistance; however, future more in-dept studies and clinical investigations should be encouraged to clarify its efficacy and the mechanisms involved.

Keywords: antibacterial; antibiotic resistance; cefotaxime; ciprofloxacin; essential oils; fractional inhibitory concentration index; superbugs; synergism; terpene.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Chemical structure of cinnamaldehyde.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Pharmacological properties of cinnamaldehyde.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Study selection by PRISMA flow diagram about the ability of cinnamaldehyde to synergize antimicrobial drugs against superbugs.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Possible mechanisms underlying the bacterial sensitizing properties of trans-cinnamaldehyde.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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