Work

Antibacterial and anti-virulence effects of Saxifraga stolonifera Meeb extracts against Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: ABSTRACT Saxifraga stolonifera Meeb is widely used as a traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of infections. This study aims to evaluate the antibacterial properties and suppression of virulence by Saxifraga stolonifera Meeb extracts on Pseudomonas aeruginosa . Following extraction of Saxifraga stolonifera Meeb with petroleum ether, ethyl acetate, n-butyl alcohol, and water, the n-butyl alcohol extract had the strongest activity against P. aeruginosa PAO1 and P. aeruginosa ATCC27853, with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 10 and 5 mg/mL, respectively. In the presence of the n-butyl alcohol (n-BuOH) extract at 1/4MIC, genes lasI, lasR, rhlI, phzA1, phzA2, and pilG were decreased to levels ranging from 13% ( lasI ) to 43% ( phzA2 ). Both biofilm formation and pyocyanin production of PAO1 were inhibited by the n-BuOH extract at sub-inhibitory concentrations. N-butyl alcohol extract analyzed by HPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS showed more than 11 compounds. Overall, our results suggest that the n-BuOH extract from Saxifraga stolonifera Meeb may be used as a new anti-virulence agent for P. aeruginosa infection. IMPORTANCE Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections pose severe challenges to clinical treatment, and anti-virulence therapy has emerged as a novel therapeutic strategy. This study demonstrates that the n-butanol extract of Saxifraga stolonifera exerts anti-virulence effects by downregulating virulence-related genes, inhibiting quorum-sensing systems, and biofilm formation. Moreover, its multiple bioactive components also possess antibacterial and anti-virulence properties. S. stolonifera is thus promising to be developed into a novel anti-virulence inhibitor against P. aeruginosa for the prevention and treatment of clinically relevant infections.

Source: Microbiology Spectrum

DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.02821-25