ABSTRACT
Objective: To evaluate the effect of nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA) on ceftazidime resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa mediated by efflux pump system MexCD-OprJ and explore its mechanism. Methods: The bacterial solution with a concentration of 0.5 mcburney was diluted and inoculated in a 96-well plate, and NDGA and ceftazidime were added by the checkerboard dilution method. At the same time, the untreated control group, NDGA control group and ceftazidime control group were set; After being cultured for 24 h, the absorbance was measured by an enzyme micro-plate reader, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of each drug was recorded and the bacteriostatic rate and fractional inhibitory concentration (FIC) index were calculated. Bacteria were inoculated with the bacterial liquid coating method in the 96-well plates, and the bacterial colony number was counted after 24 h of culture. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was performed to detect the gene expressions of efflux pump membrane protein MexC, MexD, OprJ and nfxB. Results: Compared with ceftazidime or NDGA alone, combination of ceftazidime and NDGA significantly inhibited the growth of efflux pump system MexCD-OprJ-mediated ceftazidime-resistant P. aeruginosa (P < 0.05); The pharmacological effects of ceftazidime and NDGA showed synergistic or additive effects; After combined administration, the MIC values of ceftazidime and NDGA were significantly decreased, and the MIC value of some ceftazidime had no significant difference from that of ceftazidime-sensitive P. aeruginosa; Compared with ceftazidime alone, the gene expressions of efflux pump membrane proteins MexC, MexD and OprJ were significantly decreased after combined application of ceftazidime and NDGA (P < 0.05), while the expression of nfxB was significantly increased (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The mechanism of NDGA on ceftazidime resistance of P. aeruginosa mediated by efflux pump system MexCD-OprJ is related to its ability to down-regulate the gene expression of efflux pump membrane proteins MexC, MexD and OprJ, and up-regulate the gene expression of the negative regulatory gene nfxB of the above three proteins.