Geraniol as a Potential Antimicrobial Agent to Cure Dysentery Caused by Shigella flexneri

Introduction: One of the recent health problems is a multi-drug resistant shigella bacteria, which causes dysentery (shigellosis). A new diagnosis strains of Shigella flexneri were resistant to many antibiotics which made the demand for a new drug a priority. Geraniol is a monoterpene compound that is used in a lot of food industries. This study is to investigate the geraniol activity on shigella flexneri to evaluate its potential antimicrobial activity of it. Methods: Shigella flexneri bacteria were isolated and diagnosed by the laboratory of Al-Fallujah teaching hospital, and the geraniol was purchased from Sigma Aldrich USA. The activity of Geraniol against Shigella flexneri was tested in many ways, from the growth curve, bacterial invasion, Gentamicin protection assay, to the in vivo model as a last test. Results: Geraniol was able to delay the growth of bacteria compared to the untreated bacterial culture. Interestingly, the Gentamicin protection assay showed a decrease in the number of intracellular bacteria after testing the bacterial invasion on the HeLa cell line, and even in the larvae model, geraniol protect larvae from being killed compared to the untreated cells. Discussion: Geraniol significantly inhibited Shigella flexneri growth and intracellular survival, suggesting potent antimicrobial properties. Its efficacy increased with dose, showed no cytotoxicity, and enhanced survival in Galleria mellonella, indicating strong therapeutic potential for dysentery treatment and related infections. Conclusion: These observations suggested that geraniol could be a potential drug to treat dysentery and could be used to treat other bacteria, and that needs further investigation on it.