Urolithins and their antimicrobial activity: A short review

Year 2020, Volume: 3 Issue: 2, 117 - 124, 31.10.2020

Omar Ammar , Mehmet İlktaç , Hayrettin Ozan Gülcan

Abstract

In the last few decades, the rate of the production of new antibiotic has declined significantly. This is mainly due to the high costs needed for both research and development processes. On the other hand, antibacterial resistance developed by bacteria against the already present antibiotics has been increasing extensively. Thus, finding alternatives to synthesize new antimicrobial molecules is now a priority to fight against resistant bacteria. One of these alternatives that can be used as precursors for new antimicrobial molecules is secondary metabolites. Ellagitannins, abundantly found in walnut, pomegranate, and berries, are known as precursors of ellagic acid which possess antimicrobial, anticancer, and antioxidant activities. Ellagic acid is metabolized in mammalian gastrointestinal system via gut microbiota to form dibenzo [b, d] pyran-6-one metabolites, which are known as urolithins. Urolithins are the metabolites of ellagic acid which are responsible for its biological activities. There are many types of urolithins such as urolithin A, urolithin B, urolithin C and urolithin D that were detected in mammalian gastrointestinal tract. Urolithins were shown to possess antimicrobial activity against bacteria, viruses and fungi. In this article, it was aimed to review the antimicrobial activities of various natural and synthetic urolithins concomitant to their chemistry.

Keywords

Antimicrobial activity, ellagic acid, ellagitannins, gut microbiota, urolithins

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