BACKGROUND

() wound infections are an emerging global health threat. Empiric therapy of infected wounds with Chinese dragon's blood (CDB) is one of the most precious traditional Chinese medicines used in clinical settings. We investigated the anti-virulence efficacy of CDB against isolated from wound infections.

METHODS

We collected six clinical isolates obtained from wound specimens. Antimicrobial susceptibility profiles were determined using the agar dilution method. Biofilm formation and eradication assays, quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR), and bacterial motility assays were performed to evaluate the efficacy of CDB on biofilm formation, mature biofilm eradication, and motility ability of isolates.

RESULTS

Minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of CDB against isolates were ≥1024 µg/mL. The differences in biofilm formation ability between the CDB-containing LB broth and LB broth groups were statistically significant ( < 0.05). The results of mature biofilm-eradicating assays indicated that CDB had excellent efficacy on eradicating the biofilm formed by all experimental strains ( < 0.05). The mRNA relative expression of genes in strains was significantly downregulated after exposure to CDB at a concentration of 128 μg/mL ( < 0.05). CDB could inhibit the motility ability of isolates through swimming, swarming, and twitching motilities.

CONCLUSION

CDB exerts a positive anti-virulence efficacy on . CDB significantly reduced the biofilm formation by downregulating the mRNA relative expression of the biofilm-associated genes . In addition, CDB efficiently inhibited the motility ability of isolates by swimming, swarming, and twitching motilities in a concentration-dependent manner. Therefore, these findings position CDB as an alternative for wound infections management in clinical settings.