Abstract
Due to increased resistance to antimicrobial agents, infectious diseases remain a public health problem worldwide. The current study was designed to examine the effect of Zinc Oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-np) against the biofilm formation ability of P. aeruginosa clinical isolates and to study its effect on the expression level of the genes involved in biofilm formation and virulence factors production. The MIC of ZnO-np against P. aeruginosa was determined by the broth micro dilution method. The effect of ZnO-np on the biofilm-forming isolates of P. aeruginosa was monitored by the microtiter plate method. P. aeruginosa isolates were tested for the expression of different biofilm and virulence genes using real-time rt-PCR. ZnO-np significantly down-regulated the expression level of all biofilm and virulence genes of P. aeruginosa clinical isolates except the toxA gene. This study demonstrates the promising use of ZnO-np as an anti-biofilm and anti-virulence compound.
Highlights
Due to increased resistance to antimicrobial agents, infectious diseases remain a public health problem worldwide
The results of the broth microdilution method showed that MIC50 and MIC90 of ZnO-np that inhibits the growth of P. aeruginosa clinical isolates were 64 and 128μg/ml, respectively
In our study, we have examined the antibacterial activity of ZnO-np (˂ 20nm diameter) and its effect on the biofilm formation by P. aeruginosa isolated from hospitalized patients
Summary
Due to increased resistance to antimicrobial agents, infectious diseases remain a public health problem worldwide. The current study was designed to examine the effect of Zinc Oxide nanoparticles (ZnO–np) against the biofilm formation ability of P. aeruginosa clinical isolates and to study its effect on the expression level of the genes involved in biofilm formation and virulence factors production. Results: ZnO–np significantly down-regulated the expression level of all biofilm and virulence genes of P. aeruginosa clinical isolates except the toxA gene. P. aeruginosa recruits at least four different QS networks interrelated to each other, namely las, rhl, iqs, and pqs These systems possess transcriptional regulators LasR, RhlR, IqsR, and PqsR, respectively, which trigger the expression of selected genes linked to virulence [2]. It appears as a white powder, nearly insoluble in water with many applications, such as antimicrobial, wound healing, UV filtering properties, high catalytic and photochemical activity, due to its unique combination of interesting properties such as selective toxicity toward bacteria, with minimal effects on human and animal cells, stability in a hydrogen plasma atmosphere and low price [5]
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