{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,2]],"date-time":"2025-12-02T08:54:31Z","timestamp":1764665671444,"version":"3.46.0"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"23","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,2]],"date-time":"2025-12-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1764633600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004281","name":"National Science Centre","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2021\/41\/N\/NZ7\/03022"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2021\/41\/N\/NZ7\/03022"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004281","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs), particularly enterotoxin C (SEC), are potent superantigens primarily known for causing food poisoning, but recent studies have highlighted their potential role in immune-mediated intestinal diseases. Despite the widespread use of food preservatives, their influence on SEC production\u2014especially from coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS)\u2014remains poorly understood. In this study, we evaluated the effects of commonly used preservatives, including sodium chloride, potassium nitrate, and sorbic acid, on the expression and production of SEC3 and SECepi in Staphylococcus aureus and S. epidermidis, respectively. Using ELISA and RT-qPCR, we analyzed toxin levels at both the protein and mRNA levels. Proliferation assays on human PBMCs assessed the mitogenic potential of culture supernatants. While sodium chloride and potassium nitrate did not significantly alter SEC levels or bacterial growth, only sorbic acid at 0.07% consistently inhibited both mRNA expression and protein production of SEC3 and SECepi. Furthermore, supernatants from sorbic acid-treated cultures induced significantly lower PBMC proliferation. These results suggest that even sub-emetic concentrations of enterotoxins may have immunomodulatory effects, and sorbic acid could be a promising agent in mitigating such risks.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms262311659","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,2]],"date-time":"2025-12-02T08:49:22Z","timestamp":1764665362000},"page":"11659","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Do Food Preservatives Affect Staphylococcal Enterotoxin C Production Equally?"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"26","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0100-0657","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Aleksandra","family":"Tabi\u015b","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Food Hygiene and Consumer Health Protection, Wroc\u0142aw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, 50-375 Wroc\u0142aw, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Keun Seok","family":"Seo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS 39762, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8276-5020","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Juyeun","family":"Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS 39762, USA"},{"name":"Department of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Sciences, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8375-0178","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Joo Youn","family":"Park","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS 39762, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Nogi","family":"Park","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS 39762, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jacek","family":"Bania","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Food Hygiene and Consumer Health Protection, Wroc\u0142aw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, 50-375 Wroc\u0142aw, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), and European Centre for Disease Prevention (ECDC) (2024). 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