Application of Chlorogenic acid as a substitute for antibiotics in Multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli-induced mastitis

Mastitis affects animal welfare and causes economic losses in the dairy industry. It is caused mainly by bacterial pathogens, among which Escherichia coli (E. coli) is one of the prominent causative agents. To treat bovine mastitis, antibiotics were widely used. However, their extensive and uncontrolled use has led to the emergence of multi-antibiotic-resistant strains. Indeed, a superbug of E. coli was successfully isolated from a mastitis-suffering cow and found resistant to at least 10 antibiotics. Therefore, the development of a universal therapeutic agent used as a replacement for the antibiotic is an immediate need in the dairy industry. To do so, we examined whether chlorogenic acid (CGA), a natural and herbal extract, could be a perfect alternative in mastitis treatment. In this study, we observed that the combination of CGA and antibiotic had an additive or synergistic effect; CGA fought against the superbug by directly targeting bacterial cell wall and membrane; CGA can significantly alleviate the mastitis caused by the superbug E. coli via its antimicrobial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Collectively, these data indicated that CGA had a true potential to replace antibiotics during mastitis treatment.