Alzhraa Ali Mohamed

Conference 2023 Presentation

Project title

Exaggerated Antibiofilm Activity of Meropenem-ZnO-nanoparticles combination and Efficient Therapeutic Strategy against Bacterial Keratitis

Authors and Affiliations

Mohamed El‐Telbany1, Alzhraa Ali Mohamed1, Galal Yahya2, Aliaa Abdelghafar2,
Mahmoud Saad Abdel‐Halim2, Sameh Saber3, Mohamed A. Alfaleh4,5, Asmaa H. Mohamed1,
Fatma Abdelrahman6, Hoda A. Fathey1, Gehad H. Ali1 and Mohamed Abdel‐Haleem1

1 Microbiology and Botany Department, Faculty of Science, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44519, Egypt
2. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44519, Egypt
3. Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Delta University for Science and Technology, Gamasa 11152, Egypt
4. Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
5. Vaccines and Immunotherapy Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21859, Saudi Arabia 6 Center for Microbiology and Phage Therapy, Zewail City of Science and Technology, Giza 12578, Egypt

Abstract

Background

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic gram‐negative human pathogen that causes a
wide range of infections, including nosocomial infections. Aside from the intrinsic and acquired
antimicrobial resistance against many classes of antibiotics, P. aeruginosa can produce an extracellular polymeric matrix called “biofilm” that protects bacteria from antibiotics and harmful factors.
Biofilm enables P. aeruginosa to develop chronic infections.

Methods

This study assessed the inhibitory action
of ZnO‐nanoparticles against biofilms formed by multidrug‐resistant P. aeruginosa strains. A collection of 24 clinical strains of P. aeruginosa were tested for their antimicrobial resistance against different antibiotics using the disk diffusion method. The antibiofilm activity of ZnO‐NPs was assessed
using the microtiter plate biofilm assay. The application of ZnO‐NPs dramatically modulated the
resistance profile and biofilm activity of P. aeruginosa.

Results

The application of ZnO‐NPs dramatically modulated the
resistance profile and biofilm activity of P. aeruginosa. The combination of ZnO‐NPs and meropenem showed synergistic antipseudomonal activity with lower MICs. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) micrographs revealed complete inhibition of biofilms treated with the meropenem–
ZnO‐NPs combination. Reduced expression of biofilm regulating genes lasR, pslA, and fliC was detected, reflecting the enhanced antibiofilm effect of ZnO‐NPs. In vivo application of this antimicrobial mixture completely cured P. aeruginosa‐induced keratitis in rats.

Conclusions

Our findings represent a dual
enhancement of antibacterial and antibiofilm activity via the use of meropenem–ZnO‐NPs combination against carbapenem‐resistant P. aeruginosa infections.