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THE EFFECT OF SANGUINARIA CANADENSIS ON THE GROWTH AND BIOFILM PRODUCTION OF PSEUDOMONAS AERUGINOSA

Abstract

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the leading causes of nosocomial infections worldwide. The bacterium is especially detrimental to individuals diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. It can be extremely hard to treat because of its resistance to a wide range of antibiotics. Therefore, it is important to find other compounds that could inhibit the growth of this bacteria, yet still be safe enough as to not adversely affect the patient. In this research, we tested the effects of Sanguinaria canadensis (bloodroot) extract on the growth and biofilm formation of P. aeruginosa. Pulverized S. canadensis rhizomes were dissolved in ethanol (tincture) or water (aqueous solution) to make 20% solutions. Sterile filter paper disks soaked with extract were placed on Mueller Hinton agar plates inoculated with P. aeruginosa. After incubation, zones of inhibition were measured. In all three trials of the disc diffusion assays, there were no zones of inhibition for any of the test chemicals used, which were the bloodroot tincture, bloodroot aqueous solution, sterile water control, and the ethanol control. These results indicate that the bloodroot extract does not inhibit the normal growth of P. aeruginosa. We conducted biofilm assays to determine the effect that the extract has on the disruption of P. aeruginosa biofilms. The cells were grown in 96-well plates at 37ºC for 24 hours. Growth was determined by absorbance readings at a wavelength of 600 nm. Biofilms were treated with the tincture, aqueous solution, water, or ethanol control for 5 minutes at 37°C. The remaining biofilm was determined by crystal violet staining and absorbance readings at 562 nm using a spectrophotometer. The tincture treated cells had more biofilm (OD of 4.513) compared to the ethanol control (OD of 2.649) p<0.01. Bloodroot did not disrupt biofilm according to these results.

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