Bacteria cells can communicate with each other via quorum sensing (QS) system. Various physiological characteristics including virulence factors and biofilm formation are controlled by QS. So interrupting the bacterial communication is an alternative strategy instead of antibiotics for control bacterial infection. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of tea polyphenols (TPs) on quorum sensing and virulence factors of Klebsiella pneumoniae. In vitro study showed that the anti-QS activity of tea polyphenols against Chromobacterium violaceum in violacein production. At sub-MICs, TPs inhibited the motility, reduced protease and exopolysaccharide (EPS) production and also biofilm formation in K. pneumoniae. In addition, in vivo study showed that tea polyphenols at 200 μg/mL and 400 μg/mL increased the survival rate of Caenorhabditis elegans to 73.3% and 82.2% against K. pneumonia infection. Our findings suggest that tea polyphenols can act as an effective QS inhibitor and can serve as a novel anti-virulence agent for the management of bacterial pathogens.

中文翻译：

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茶多酚可抑制秀丽隐杆线虫模型中生物膜的形成，减弱群体感应控制的毒力并增强对肺炎克雷伯菌的抵抗力。

细菌细胞可以通过群体感应（QS）系统相互通信。QS控制包括毒力因子和生物膜形成在内的各种生理特征。因此，中断细菌传播是替代抗生素的替代策略，以控制细菌感染。这项研究的目的是调查茶多酚（TPs）对肺炎克雷伯菌的群体感应和毒力因子的影响。体外研究表明，茶多酚对紫胶菌生产中的紫胶菌具有抗QS活性。在亚MICs，TPs抑制了肺炎克雷伯氏菌的运动性，减少了蛋白酶和胞外多糖（EPS）的产生，也抑制了生物膜的形成。此外，体内研究表明，茶多酚分别为200μg/ mL和400μg/ mL可以将秀丽隐杆线虫的抗肺炎克雷伯菌感染的存活率提高到73.3％和82.2％。我们的发现表明，茶多酚可作为有效的QS抑制剂，并可作为细菌病原体管理的新型抗毒剂。