Enhanced antimicrobial activity of the combination of silver nanoparticles and different β Lactam antibiotics against methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates (original) (raw)

Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has emerged as a major problem worldwide. Strong synergistic action of antibiotics combined with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) presents a potential solution for this problem. AgNPs was prepared by Gamma- irradiation method. Eighty staphylococcus spp. were obtained out of 45 different clinical specimens; 21(46.6 %) isolates were identified as MRSA and chosen to test their susceptibility to plain AgNPs, β-lactam antibiotics and mixed solution of AgNPs /antibiotics by disc diffusion method and broth microdilution assay for detection of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) as well as minimum bactericidal concentrations. All MRSA isolates were full resistant to amoxicillin, ceftazidime, cefotaxime, ceftriaxone, cefepime, while 3(14.2%) were susceptible to meropenem and imipenem with MIC ≤ 20µg/ml. Plain AgNPs showed potential anti-MRSA activity, the range of inhibition zones of AgNPs ranged from 7.5 to 12 mm. Broth microdilution assay r...