Inhibition of α-toxin production by subinhibitory concentrations of naringenin controls Staphylococcus aureus pneumonia

• Published in: Fitoterapia Vol. 86; pp. 92 - 99
• Main Authors: Zhang, Yu, Wang, Jian-feng, Dong, Jing, Wei, Jing-yuan, Wang, Ya-nan, Dai, Xiao-han, Wang, Xin, Luo, Ming-jing, Tan, Wei, Deng, Xu-ming, Niu, Xiao-di
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01.04.2013
• Subjects: animal models; Animals; Bacterial Toxins - biosynthesis; Cell Line; Citrus paradisi - chemistry; Female; Flavanones - pharmacology; Flavanones - therapeutic use; Humans; inflammation; Inflammation - drug therapy; Inflammation - microbiology; Lycopersicon esculentum - chemistry; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus - metabolism; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus - pathogenicity; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Naringenin; Phytotherapy; Plant Extracts - pharmacology; Plant Extracts - therapeutic use; Pneumonia; Pneumonia, Staphylococcal - drug therapy; Pneumonia, Staphylococcal - microbiology; Staphylococcus aureus; virulence; Virulence Factors - biosynthesis; α-Toxin; α-Toxin; Pneumonia; Naringenin; Staphylococcus aureus
• ISSN: 0367-326X; 1873-6971
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fitote.2013.02.001

Staphylococcal pneumonia provoked by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a life-threatening infection in which α-toxin is an essential virulence factor. In this study, we investigate the influence of naringenin on α-toxin production and further assess its therapeutic performance in the treatment of staphylococcal pneumonia. Remarkably, the expression of α-toxin was significantly inhibited when the organism was treated with 16μg/ml of naringenin. When studied in a mouse model of S. aureus pneumonia, naringenin could attenuate the symptoms of lung injury and inflammation in infected mice. These results suggest that naringenin is a promising agent for treatment of S. aureus infection. Naringenin remarkably decreased, in a dose-dependent manner, the production of α-toxin by Staphylococcus aureus, and thereby alleviates A549 cells injury caused by S. aureus and controls the S. aureus pneumonia. [Display omitted]