The antivirulence activity, transcriptomics of EGCG and its protective effects on zebrafish infected by Aeromonas hydrophila

Hongmei Yin; Qiaohua Yan; Guoqiang Cheng; Li Zhang; Meiqing Li; Tingting Hu; Sihui Gao; Yuanhang Chen; Huaqiao Tang; Jie Luo

doi:10.3389/fcimb.2023.1271448

The antivirulence activity, transcriptomics of EGCG and its protective effects on zebrafish infected by Aeromonas hydrophila

Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2023 Oct 6:13:1271448. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2023.1271448. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Hongmei Yin^{1

2}, Qiaohua Yan², Guoqiang Cheng³, Li Zhang³, Meiqing Li², Tingting Hu², Sihui Gao², Yuanhang Chen², Huaqiao Tang², Jie Luo^{2

4}

Affiliations

¹ School of Animal Science, Xichang University, Xichang, Sichuan, China.
² Department of Pharmacy, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China.
³ Sichuan Academy of Chinese Medicine Sciences, Chengdu, China.
⁴ Key Open Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine, Tongren Polytechnic College, Tongren, China.

Abstract

Background: Aeromonas hydrophila is an important pathogen that mainly harms aquatic animals and exhibits resistance to a variety of antibiotics. This study investigated the effect of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) on the virulence factors of A.hydrophila and its impact on adhesion, invasion, and cytotoxicity in Caco-2 cells. The potential mechanism of antibacterial activity of EGCG was investigated by transcriptomic analysis.

Results: EGCG not only inhibited the production of biofilm, hemolytic activity, motility, and protease activity of A.hydrophila, but also reduced its adhesion, invasion, and cytotoxicity in Caco-2 cells. Transcriptomic analysis indicated that the antimicrobial activity of EGCG may be achieved by weakening the chemotaxis and stress response of the bacteria, as well as inhibiting the TonB system. Animal studies demonstrated that EGCG can significantly improve the survival rate and organs damage of zebrafish infected with A.hydrophila.

Conclusion: EGCG would be a potential alternative drug for the prevention and treatment of A. hydrophila infections by anti-virulence mechanism.

Keywords: A. hydrophila; epigallocatechin-3-gallate; transcriptome; virulence factors; zebrafish.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aeromonas hydrophila* / genetics
Animals
Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology
Caco-2 Cells
Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections* / drug therapy
Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections* / microbiology
Humans
Transcriptome
Zebrafish / microbiology

Substances

epigallocatechin gallate
Anti-Bacterial Agents

Grants and funding

The authors declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported in part by PhD Project of Xichang University (YBZ202257), the Science and Technology Plan Project of Tongren City of Guizhou Province in China (No.[2021]52 and No.[2022]6), the Science and Technology Support Program of Guizhou Province in China (No.[2020]1Y038), and the Science & Technology Department of Sichuan Province (No.2023JDKY0027).