Andrographolide interferes quorum sensing to reduce cell damage caused by avian pathogenic Escherichia coli

•Andrographolide reduced cell damage of chicken type II pneumocytes induced by APEC.•Andrographolide inhibited F-actin cytoskeleton polymerization induced by APEC.•Andrographolide reduced the quantity of APEC adhering to chicken type II pneumocytes.•Andrographolide inhibited the expression of virulence factors of APEC.•Andrographolide restrained the quorum sensing of APEC by inhibiting AI-2 activity.

Avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) induce septicemia in chickens by invading type II pneumocytes to breach the blood-air barrier. The virulence of APEC can be regulated by quorum sensing (QS). Andrographolide is a QS inhibitor of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa). Therefore, we investigate whether andrographolide inhibits the injury of chicken type II pneumocytes by avian pathogenic E. coli O78 (APEC-O78) by disrupting the bacterial QS system. The results showed that sub-MIC of andrographolide significantly reduced the release of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), F-actin cytoskeleton polymerization, and the degree of the adherence to chicken type II pneumocytes induced by APEC-O78. Further, we found that andrographolide significantly decreased the autoinducer-2 (AI-2) activity and the expression of virulence factors of APEC-O78. These results suggest that andrographolide reduce the pathogenicity of APEC-O78 in chicken type II pneumocytes by interfering QS and decreasing virulence. These results provide new evidence for colibacillosis prevention methods in chickens.

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