Complex Chronic Wound Biofilms Are Inhibited by the Natural Extract of .

Resistant wound microorganisms are becoming an extremely serious challenge in the process of treating infected chronic wounds, leading to impaired healing. Thus, additional approaches should be taken into consideration to improve the healing process. The use of natural extracts can represent a valid alternative to treat/control the microbial infections in wounds. This study investigates the antimicrobial/antivirulence effects of aqueous extract against the main chronic wound pathogens: , , and The extract shows phenolic characterization with rutin (1.8 ± 0.14 μg/mg) as the major compound and antibacterial effect against bacteria ( PECHA 10 MIC 6.25%; PECHA 4 MIC 12.50%) without action against (MIC and MFC ≥ 50%). also shows a significant antivirulence effect in terms of antimotility/antibiofilm actions. In particular, the extract acts (i) on both increasing its swimming and swarming motility favoring the planktonic phenotype and reducing its adhesive capability, (ii) on and biofilm formation reducing both the biomass and CFU/ml. Furthermore, the extract significantly displays the reduction of a dual-species and Lubbock chronic wound biofilm, a complex model that mimics the realistic microbial spatial distribution in wounds. The results suggest that aqueous extract could represent an innovative eco-friendly strategy to prevent/control the wound microbial infection.