Acinetobacter baumannii, a virulent uropathogen with widespread antibiotic resistance, has arisen as a critical scientific challenge, necessitating the development of innovative therapeutic agents. This is the first study reveal the proteomic changes in A. baumannii upon
pyrogallol treatment for understanding the mechanisms using nano-LC-MS/MS-based quantitative proteomics and qPCR analysis. The obtained results found that
pyrogallol treatment dramatically downregulated the expression level of several key
proteins such as GroEL, DnaK, ClpB, SodB, KatE, Bap, CsuA/B, PgaA, PgaC, BfmR, OmpA, and SecA in A. baumannii, which are involved in chaperone-mediated oxidative stress responses,
antioxidant defence system, biofilm formation, virulence
enzyme production, bacterial adhesion,
capsule formation, and antibiotic resistance. Accordingly, the
pyrogallol dramatically enhanced the lifespan of A. baumannii-infected zebrafish by inhibiting bacterial colonization, demonstrating the anti-infective potential of
pyrogallol against A. baumannii. Further, the histopathological results also demonstrated the disease protection efficacy of
pyrogallol against the pathognomonic sign of A. baumannii
infection. In addition, the
pyrogallol treatment effectively improved the immune parameters such as serum
myeloperoxidase activity, leukocyte respiratory burst activity, and serum
lysozyme activity in zebrafish against A. baumannii
infection. Based on the results, the present study strongly proposes
pyrogallol as a promising therapeutic agent for treating A. baumannii
infection.