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  • Juniper and immortelle esse...
    Peruč, Dolores; Tićac, Brigita; Broznić, Dalibor; Gobin, Ivana

    Arhiv za higijenu rada i toksikologiju, 09/2020, Volume: 71, Issue: 3
    Journal Article

    is an opportunistic protozoon, widespread in the aquatic environment, where it can be in endosymbiosis with over 30 pathogenic bacteria, including nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). Protozoa play a crucial role in mycobacterial pathogenesis and serve as a reservoir of infection. Since the first step in bacteria making contact with amoebae is adhesion, we were interested in investigating whether essential oils (EOs) can affect it. To that end we investigated the effects of juniper ( ) and immortelle ( ) EOs against , and in tap water and against their adhesion to by combining them in synergistic EO concentrations. and adhered to to a greater extent than . The adhesion of all NTMs was prevented by the subinhibitory concentrations of EOs. When comparing the effect of synergistic combinations of EOs and the effect of a single concentration from a combination, a higher percentage of adhesion inhibition in all synergistic combinations observed, except against . Neither oil was cytotoxic to . Our findings suggest that the EOs or their components weaken the contact of environmental NTMs and free-living amoebae and indirectly diminish their pathogenic potential, which could be of value in developing strategies for maintenance of water supply systems.