title: Potential Use of Dimethyl Sulfoxide in Treatment of Infections Caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
abstract: Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is commonly used as a solvent to dissolve water-insoluble drugs or other test samples in both in vivo and in vitro experiments. It was observed during our experiment that DMSO at noninhibitory concentrations could significantly inhibit pyocyanin production in the human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa Pyocyanin is an important pathogenic factor whose production is controlled by a cell density-dependent quorum-sensing (QS) system. Investigation of the effect of DMSO on QS showed that DMSO has significant QS antagonistic activities and concentrations of DMSO in the micromolar range attenuated a battery of QS-controlled virulence factors, including rhamnolipid, elastase, and LasA protease production and biofilm formation. Further study indicated that DMSO inhibition of biofilm formation and pyocyanin production was attained by reducing the level of production of an autoinducer molecule of the rhl QS system, N-butanoyl-l-homoserine lactone (C4-HSL). In a mouse model of a burn wound infection with P. aeruginosa, treatment with DMSO significantly decreased mouse mortality compared with that for mice in the control group. The capacity of DMSO to attenuate the pathogenicity of P. aeruginosa points to the potential use of DMSO as an antipathogenic agent for the treatment of P. aeruginosa infection. As a commonly used solvent, however, DMSO's impact on bacterial virulence calls for cautionary attention in its usage in biological, medicinal, and clinical studies.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China, Ministry of Education, Faculty of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
authors.forename: Qiao
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China, Ministry of Education, Faculty of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
authors.forename: Qiaolian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China, Ministry of Education, Faculty of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
authors.forename: Dangdang
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.affiliation: Department of Burns and Cutaneous Surgery, the Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China, Ministry of Education, Faculty of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.|Department of Oral Biology & Medical Microbiology, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China, Ministry of Education, Faculty of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
authors.forename: Sheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China, Ministry of Education, Faculty of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
authors.forename: Yuting
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China, Ministry of Education, Faculty of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China Kangmin.Duan@umanitoba.ca.|Department of Oral Biology & Medical Microbiology, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
authors.forename: Kangmin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Duan
mesh_terms: D015107:4-Butyrolactone / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018441:Biofilms / Q000187:drug effects; D004121:Dimethyl Sulfoxide / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000187:drug effects; D006017:Glycolipids / Q000378:metabolism; D045726:Metalloproteases / Q000378:metabolism; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D011552:Pseudomonas Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity; D011710:Pyocyanine / Q000378:metabolism; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D014946:Wound Infection / Q000188:drug therapy
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D006017:Glycolipids; C092312:N-butyrylhomoserine lactone; D037521:Virulence Factors; C418382:rhamnolipid; D011710:Pyocyanine; C548166:LasA protein, Pseudomonas aeruginosa; D045726:Metalloproteases; D015107:4-Butyrolactone; D004121:Dimethyl Sulfoxide