The Effects Of Curcumin On Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Infection Using Caenorhabditis Elegans As A Host Model
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Date
2013-04
Authors
Mohamed Sedek, Saiedatul Akmal
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Abstract
Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection is one of the major nosocomial infections that are detrimental to immunocompromised people. P. aeruginosa has been reported to exhibit resistance to all over-the-counter antimicrobial agents. The number of approved new antimicrobial agents for the last 20 years has been severely reduced despite the growing number of antimicrobial resistance. This study aimed to investigate curcumin’s potential as an anti-infective agent against P. aeruginosa infection. Curcumin is a phenolic compound isolated from Curcuma longa and has long been used in traditional medicine. In this study, Caenorhabditis elegans was fully utilized to scrutinize the in vivo therapeutic effects of curcumin towards P. aeruginosa-infected C. elegans. Curcumin was found to significantly promote the survival of the infected C. elegans. The disease symptoms in curcumin-treated C. elegans were significantly improved in comparison to the untreated nematodes. Semiquantitative real-time PCR analysis showed curcumin’s ability to restore the expression of antimicrobial peptides genes in infected C. elegans that were originally suppressed during P. aeruginosa infection. Curcumin was also found to reduce the production of virulence factors by P. aeruginosa that are required for its full pathogenicity. The therapeutic activities of curcumin were neither bactericidal nor bacteriostatic activity, providing new perspective into the development of alternative anti-infective agent. The threat of antimicrobial resistance shall be diminished with such discoveries and more effective treatment of infectious diseases could be delivered to the patients.
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Keywords
Curcumin On Pseudomonas Aeruginosa , Caenorhabditis Elegans