Baicalin Protects Mice from Lethal Infection by EnterohemorrhagicEscherichia coli.
Shiga-like toxin-producingEscherichia coli(STEC) O157:H7 poses grave challenges to public health by its ability to cause severe colonic diseases and renal failure in both human and animals. Shiga-like toxins are the major pathogenic factor for some highly virulentE. coliexpecially Shiga-like toxin 2. Conventional treatments such as antibiotics can facilitate the release of the toxin thus potentially exacerbate the diseases. Small molecule inhibitors and antibodies capable of neutralizing the toxins are the two major venues for the development of therapeutics against enterohemorrhagic serotypeE. coliinfection. While promising and potentially effective at clinical settings, these approaches need to overcome obstacles such as the limited routes of administration, responses from the host immune system, which are known to differ greatly among individuals. Our previous studies demonstrate that Baicalin (BAI), a flavonoid compound isolated fromScutellaria baicalensisprotects against rStx2-induced cell cytotoxicity and also protects mice from lethal rStx2 challenges by inducing Stx2 to form inactive oligomers. In this manuscript, we present some exciting work showing that baicalin is an effective agent for therapeutic treatment of STEC O157:H7 infection.
The First Hospital and Institute of Infection and Immunity, Jilin UniversityChangchun, China; Key Laboratory of Zoonosis, Ministry of Education, Institute of Zoonosis, College of Veterinary Medicine, Jilin UniversityChangchun, China.
Yong
Y
Zhang
The First Hospital and Institute of Infection and Immunity, Jilin UniversityChangchun, China; Key Laboratory of Zoonosis, Ministry of Education, Institute of Zoonosis, College of Veterinary Medicine, Jilin UniversityChangchun, China.
Zhimin
Z
Qi
The First Hospital and Institute of Infection and Immunity, Jilin UniversityChangchun, China; Key Laboratory of Zoonosis, Ministry of Education, Institute of Zoonosis, College of Veterinary Medicine, Jilin UniversityChangchun, China.
Yan
Y
Liu
Key Laboratory of Zoonosis, Ministry of Education, Institute of Zoonosis, College of Veterinary Medicine, Jilin University Changchun, China.
Wenqi
W
He
High Throughput Molecular Drug Discovery Center, Tianjin International Joint Academy of Biotechnology and Medicine Tianjin, China.
Cheng
C
Yang
High Throughput Molecular Drug Discovery Center, Tianjin International Joint Academy of Biotechnology and Medicine Tianjin, China.
Quan
Q
Wang
Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences Wuhan, China.
Jing
J
Dong
The First Hospital and Institute of Infection and Immunity, Jilin UniversityChangchun, China; Key Laboratory of Zoonosis, Ministry of Education, Institute of Zoonosis, College of Veterinary Medicine, Jilin UniversityChangchun, China.
Xuming
X
Deng
Escherichia coli (STEC) O157:H7; Shiga-like toxin; antibiotics; baicalin; infection