Dimethyl fumarate alleviates Staphylococcus pseudintermedius-induced cell damage by inhibiting pyroptosis and bacterial virulence

Zhihao Wang; Long Guo; Pengfei Dong; Xinyi Zhu; Jianji Li; Luying Cui; Junsheng Dong; Kangjun Liu; Xia Meng; Heng Wang

doi:10.1016/j.exer.2024.110210

Dimethyl fumarate alleviates Staphylococcus pseudintermedius-induced cell damage by inhibiting pyroptosis and bacterial virulence

Exp Eye Res. 2024 Dec 14:110210. doi: 10.1016/j.exer.2024.110210. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Zhihao Wang¹, Long Guo¹, Pengfei Dong¹, Xinyi Zhu¹, Jianji Li¹, Luying Cui¹, Junsheng Dong¹, Kangjun Liu¹, Xia Meng¹, Heng Wang²

Affiliations

¹ College of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou, Jiangsu 225009, China; International Research Laboratory of Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonotic Diseases of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China; Joint International Research Laboratory of Agriculture and Agri-product Safety of the Ministry of Education, Yangzhou, Jiangsu 225009, China.
² College of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou, Jiangsu 225009, China; International Research Laboratory of Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonotic Diseases of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China; Joint International Research Laboratory of Agriculture and Agri-product Safety of the Ministry of Education, Yangzhou, Jiangsu 225009, China. Electronic address: sdaulellow@163.com.

PMID: 39681234
DOI: 10.1016/j.exer.2024.110210

Abstract

The resistance of pathogenic bacteria to various clinical antibiotics is the major problem in treating bacterial keratitis. Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) has good anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory effects in fungal keratitis, but its effect on bacterial keratitis is unclear. This study aims to investigate DMF's anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effects. The pyroptosis model was constructed by intracellular infection of canine corneal epithelial cells (CCECs) with Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (S. pseudintermedius), and 200 μM DMF was added to explore its function. Western blot, ELISA, immunostaining, flow cytometry, qRT-PCR, and bacterial counts were used to examine the expression of the NLRP3-GSDMD signaling pathway, virulence genes, and oxidant mediators. 111 clinical keratitis isolates or S. pseudintermedius were treated with different concentrations of DMF to detect bacterial growth and biofilm formation.Adding DMF resulted in the inhibition of the NLRP3-GSDMD pathway while activating the NRF2 pathway. This led to a decrease in pyroptosis rate, intracellular bacteria count, and ROS content. Additionally, DMF blocked the mRNA expression of virulence genes ebpS, hlgB, siet, lukS-I, PVL, icaA, icaD, spsD, and spsL associated with S. pseudintermedius infection. Furthermore, DMF demonstrated concentration-dependent inhibition of the growth of clinical isolates and the formation of S. pseudintermedius biofilm. In conclusion, our results indicate that DMF can inhibit pyroptosis and the growth of various clinical isolates, making it a novel ophthalmic drug with anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties.

Keywords: Dimethyl fumarate; Staphylococcus pseudintermedius; anti-inflammatory; antibacterial; pyroptosis.