Sodium houttuyfonate inhibits biofilm formation and alginate biosynthesis‑associated gene expression in a clinical strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in vitro

Wu,Da‑Qiang; Cheng,Huijuan; Duan,Qiangjun; Huang,Weifeng

doi:10.3892/etm.2015.2562

Sodium houttuyfonate inhibits biofilm formation and alginate biosynthesis‑associated gene expression in a clinical strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in vitro

Authors:
- Da‑Qiang Wu
- Huijuan Cheng
- Qiangjun Duan
- Weifeng Huang
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Affiliations: Laboratory of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, Anhui 230038, P.R. China
Published online on: June 10, 2015 https://doi.org/10.3892/etm.2015.2562
Pages: 753-758

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Abstract

The increasing multidrug resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa has become a serious public‑health problem. In the present study, the inhibitory activities of sodium houttuyfonate (SH) against biofilm formation and alginate production in a clinical strain of P. aeruginosa (AH16) were investigated in vitro using crystal violet dying and standard curve methods, respectively. The cellular morphology of P. aeruginosa treated with SH was observed using a scanning electron microscope. Furthermore, reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to identify differences in the expression levels of genes associated with alginate biosynthesis as a result of the SH treatment. The results indicated that SH significantly inhibited biofilm formation, and decreased the levels of the primary biofilm constituent, alginate, in P. aeruginosa AH16 at various stages of biofilm development. In addition, scanning electron microscopy observations demonstrated that SH markedly altered the cellular morphology and biofilm structure of P. aeruginosa. Furthermore, the results from the reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis indicated that SH inhibited biofilm formation by mitigating the expression of the algD and algR genes, which are associated with alginate biosynthesis. Therefore, the present study has provided novel insights into the potent effects and underlying mechanisms of SH‑induced inhibition of biofilm formation in a clinical strain of P. aeruginosa.

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