Research Paper Volume 12, Issue 7 pp 6292—6305

Systematic analysis of bacteriostatic mechanism of flavonoids using transcriptome and its therapeutic effect on vaginitis

Zeyan Lin1,2,3, , Yanyan Lin4, , Zhengbing Zhang3, , Jinxing Shen5, , Caimei Yang4, , Meijiao Jiang6, , Youming Hou1,2, ,

  • 1 State Key Laboratory of Ecological Pest Control for Fujian and Taiwan Crops, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
  • 2 Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Insect Ecology, Department of Plant Protection, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China
  • 3 Department of Pharmacy, Zhangzhou Health Vocational College, Zhangzhou, Fujian, China
  • 4 Faculty of Basic Medicine, Zhangzhou Health Vocational College, Zhangzhou, Fujian, China
  • 5 Biobank, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian Province, China
  • 6 Zhangzhou Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Zhangzhou, Fujian, China

Received: December 17, 2019       Accepted: March 2, 2020       Published: April 9, 2020      

https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.103024
How to Cite

Copyright © 2020 Lin et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Abstract

The flavonoids in Ageratum conyzoides L. have been used in traditional medicine due to its anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. However, the specific mechanism of its antibacterial effect, and the potential therapeutic effect on vaginitis have not been well explained. The growth curves of E. coli, S. aurues, and P. aeruginosa after treatment with flavonoids were measured. The influences of flavonoids on the conductivity of bacterial culture medium and exudation of bacterial nucleic acid were also detected. Transcriptomics analysis was applied to analyze the potential mechanism of flavonoids. Flavonoids significantly suppressed the growth curves of E. coli, S. aurues, and P. aeruginosa, and increased the conductivity of bacteria and nucleic acid exudation. Transcriptomics analysis indicated that flavonoids could suppress bacteria by affecting the transcription and metabolism pathways. The obvious therapeutic effect of flavonoids on bacterial vaginitis was also observed. This study systematically analyzed the bacteriostatic mechanism of flavonoids, which should be helpful to develop new drugs based on the bacteriostatic effect of flavonoids.

Abbreviations

A. conyzoides: Ageratum conyzoides L; S. aureus: Staphylococcus aureus; E. coli: Escherichia coli; P. aeruginosa: Pseudomonas aeruginosa; PCT: Procalcitonin; CRP: C-reactive protein; IL-6: interleukin-6; IL-10: interleukin-10.