Tea polyphenols as an antivirulence compound Disrupt Quorum-Sensing Regulated Pathogenicity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

• Published in: Scientific reports 2015-11, Vol.5 (1), p.16158-16158, Article 16158
• Main Authors: Yin, Hongping, Deng, Yifeng, Wang, Huafu, Liu, Wugao, Zhuang, Xiyi, Chu, Weihua
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 14/10; 631/326/1320; 64/60; 692/699/255/1318; Animals; Bacterial diseases; Beverages; Biofilms; Biosensors; Caenorhabditis elegans - microbiology; Chromobacterium - drug effects; Chromobacterium - growth & development; Chromobacterium - pathogenicity; Contraction; Elastase; Fermented food; Green tea; Growth rate; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Minimum inhibitory concentration; multidisciplinary; Pathogenicity; Pathogens; Polyphenols; Polyphenols - chemistry; Polyphenols - pharmacology; Proteolysis; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Pseudomonas aeruginosa - drug effects; Pseudomonas aeruginosa - growth & development; Pseudomonas aeruginosa - pathogenicity; Quorum Sensing - drug effects; Science; Survival; Swarming; Tea; Tea - chemistry; Violacein; Virulence; Wound infection
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/srep16158

Green tea, a water extract of non-fermented leaves of Camellia sinensis L., is one of the nonalcoholic beverages in China. It is becoming increasingly popular worldwide, because of its refreshing, mild stimulant and medicinal properties. Here we examined the quorum sensing inhibitory potentials of tea polyphenols (TP) as antivirulence compounds both in vitro and in vivo . Biosensor assay data suggested minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of TP against selected pathogens were 6.25 ~ 12.5 mg/mL. At sub-MIC, TP can specifically inhibit the production of violacein in Chromobacterium violaceum 12472 with almost 98% reduction at 3.125 mg/mL without affecting its growth rate. Moreover, TP exhibited inhibitory effects on virulence phenotypes regulated by QS in Pseudomonas aeruginosa . The total proteolytic activity, elastase, swarming motility and biofilm formation were reduced in a concentration-dependent manner. In vivo , TP treatment resulted in the reduction of P. aeruginosa pathogenicity in Caenorhabditis elegans . When its concentration was 3.125 mg/mL, the survival rate reached 63.3%. In the excision wound infection model, the wound contraction percentage in treatment groups was relatively increased and the colony-forming units (CFU) in the wound area were significantly decreased. These results suggested that TP could be developed as a novel non-antibiotic QS inhibitor without killing the bacteria but as an antivirulence compound to control bacterial infection.