Abstract:
Salmonella Typhi is the causal agent of typhoid fever, a potentially fatal disease that affects
millions of people worldwide. The rise of multidrug-resistant bacteria in Pakistan has made
traditional antibiotic treatments less effective, necessitating the investigation of other
therapeutic approaches. Probiotics, which are defined as live bacteria that provide health
advantages when supplied in sufficient concentrations, have shown great potential in the
treatment of a variety of infectious disorders. A detailed analysis was performed in this study
to investigate the efficacy of probiotics against S. Typhi, revealing their mechanisms of action
and potential as a supplementary or alternative therapy in the treatment of typhoid fever. The
study begins with a review of the resistance of S. typhi strains against various classes of
antibiotics. The study focuses on the probiotic candidates that have been extensively studied
for their anti-typhoidal activity along with a newly proposed probiotic, Bacillus clausii.
Following the agar diffusion test and the co-culture study, the efficacy of the proposed and
the previously studied probiotic candidates against S. typhi has been compared and analyzed.
As a result of successful inhibition of Bacillus clausii against S. Typhi, a detailed analysis of
its secondary antimicrobial metabolites has been carried out, resulting in the identification of
potentially effective antimicrobial peptides. The extensive docking of these antimicrobial
peptides against S. typhi’s common antibiotic target proteins has revealed the possible
processes involved in the inhibitory effect. As a result of this analysis, new antimicrobial
peptides have been discovered against S. Typhi which present an attractive avenue for
combating drug-resistant strains and reducing the global burden of typhoid fever. Before
probiotics can be fully integrated into clinical practice for typhoid fever treatment, more
research, particularly in the form of well-designed clinical studies, is needed to discover the
appropriate probiotic formulations and dosages while considering safety and efficacy.
