a Laboratory of Molecular Diagnostics, Department of Biotechnology , Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Gdansk and Medical University of Gdansk , Gdansk , Poland.
b Division of Plant Protection and Biotechnology, Department of Biotechnology , Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Gdansk and Medical University of Gdansk , Gdansk , Poland.
Virulence. 2017 Aug 18;8(6):938-958. doi: 10.1080/21505594.2016.1250995. Epub 2016 Oct 20.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is among the most common pathogens responsible for both acute and chronic infections of high incidence and severity. Additionally, P. aeruginosa resistance to conventional antimicrobials has increased rapidly over the past decade. Therefore, it is crucial to explore new therapeutic options, particularly options that specifically target the pathogenic mechanisms of this microbe. The ability of a pathogenic bacterium to cause disease is dependent upon the production of agents termed 'virulence factors', and approaches to mitigate these agents have gained increasing attention as new antibacterial strategies. Although blue light irradiation is a promising alternative approach, only limited and preliminary studies have described its effect on virulence factors. The current study aimed to investigate the effects of lethal and sub-lethal doses of blue light treatment (BLT) on P. aeruginosa virulence factors. We analyzed the inhibitory effects of blue light irradiation on the production/activity of several virulence factors. Lethal BLT inhibited the activity of pyocyanin, staphylolysin, pseudolysin and other proteases, but sub-lethal BLT did not affect the production/expression of proteases, phospholipases, and flagella- or type IV pili-associated motility. Moreover, a eukaryotic cytotoxicity test confirmed the decreased toxicity of blue light-treated extracellular P. aeruginosa fractions. Finally, the increased antimicrobial susceptibility of P. aeruginosa treated with sequential doses of sub-lethal BLT was demonstrated with a checkerboard test. Thus, this work provides evidence-based proof of the susceptibility of drug-resistant P. aeruginosa to BLT-mediated killing, accompanied by virulence factor reduction, and describes the synergy between antibiotics and sub-lethal BLT.
铜绿假单胞菌是导致高发病率和高严重程度的急性和慢性感染的最常见病原体之一。此外,铜绿假单胞菌对传统抗菌药物的耐药性在过去十年中迅速增加。因此,探索新的治疗选择,特别是针对这种微生物致病机制的治疗选择至关重要。一种致病细菌引起疾病的能力取决于产生所谓的“毒力因子”的能力,并且作为新的抗菌策略,减轻这些因子的方法越来越受到关注。尽管蓝光照射是一种很有前途的替代方法,但只有有限的初步研究描述了其对毒力因子的影响。本研究旨在探讨致死和亚致死剂量的蓝光治疗(BLT)对铜绿假单胞菌毒力因子的影响。我们分析了蓝光照射对几种毒力因子的产生/活性的抑制作用。致死 BLT 抑制了绿脓菌素、葡萄球菌溶素、假溶菌素和其他蛋白酶的活性,但亚致死 BLT 不影响蛋白酶、磷脂酶、鞭毛或 IV 型菌毛相关运动的产生/表达。此外,真核细胞细胞毒性试验证实了经蓝光处理的铜绿假单胞菌细胞外部分的毒性降低。最后,通过棋盘试验证明了经亚致死 BLT 连续剂量处理的铜绿假单胞菌的抗菌敏感性增加。因此,这项工作为耐药铜绿假单胞菌对 BLT 介导的杀伤的易感性提供了循证证据,同时降低了毒力因子的表达,并描述了抗生素和亚致死 BLT 之间的协同作用。