Effect of Dietary Minerals on Virulence Attributes of .

is a water-borne pathogen responsible for causing a toxin-mediated profuse diarrhea in humans, leading to severe dehydration and death in unattended patients. With increasing reports of antibiotic resistance in , there is a need for alternate interventional strategies for controlling cholera. A potential new strategy for treating infectious diseases involves targeting bacterial virulence rather than growth, where a pathogen's specific mechanisms critical for causing infection in hosts are inhibited. Since bacterial motility, intestinal colonization and cholera toxin are critical components in pathogenesis, attenuating these virulence factors could potentially control cholera in humans. In this study, the efficacy of sub-inhibitory concentration (SIC, highest concentration not inhibiting bacterial growth) of essential minerals, zinc (Zn), selenium (Se), and manganese (Mn) in reducing motility and adhesion to intestinal epithelial cells (Caco-2), cholera toxin production, and toxin binding to the ganglioside receptor (GM1) was investigated. Additionally, attachment and toxin production in an mouse intestine model was determined. Further, the effect of Zn, Se and Mn on virulence genes, (toxin production), (motility), (intestinal colonization), and (master regulon) was determined using real-time quantitative PCR. All three minerals significantly reduced motility, adhesion to Caco-2 cells, and cholera toxin production , and decreased adhesion and toxin production in mouse intestine ( < 0.05). In addition, Zn, Se, and Mn down-regulated the transcription of virulence genes, , and Results suggest that Zn, Se, and Mn could be potentially used to reduce virulence. However, studies in an animal model are necessary to validate these results.