Abstract
Abstract
Antibiotic resistance is a major global and local public health challenge, causing high mortality rates each year. It is mainly driven by the misuse of antibiotics, leading to reduced effectiveness against multidrug-resistant bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli.
This has created an urgent need for alternative treatments, including essential oils, which have gained attention for their broad-spectrum antibacterial activity and multi-target effects due to their unique chemical composition and synergistic interactions. This study aims to evaluate and compare the antibacterial activity of five selected essential oils: clove, cardamom, anise, lemon, and cinnamon, against multidrug-resistant bacteria. The essential oils were obtained from Al-Zahraa University for Women in Karbala, while the bacterial isolates were obtained from the bacterial pathogens bank at the molecular genetics laboratory in the College of Pharmacy, University of Karbala.
The study relied on three methods: Macroboth dilution method, microbroth dilution method, and agar well diffusion method, using three concentrations (1.25%, 2.5%, and 5%).
The results showed that P. aeruginosa was highly resistant in the studied strain, while S. aureus showed resistance in the agar diffusion method but susceptibility in the Macroboth dilution method. Positive results were observed for clove essential oil, as bacterial cultures grown on Mueller–Hinton agar showed inhibition percentages of 98.45% at 2.5% concentration and 99.45% at 5% concentration.
Based on these results, the experiment was conducted using only CEO against three isolates of S. aureus and three isolates of E. coli, using 18 tubes. CEO inhibited bacterial growth in only four of them. These results show that CEO exhibited inhibitory activity in only four out of 18 tubes, as follows: 5% against E. coli A1 isolate, E. coli A2 isolate, and S. aureus A2 isolate, and 2.5% against E. coli A1 isolate.
These results indicate that CEO essential oil has limited inhibitory activity depending on the strain type and concentration used, which requires further studies to evaluate its potential as an adjunctive to conventional antibiotics.
Keywords: Essential oils; Antibacterial activity; Multidrug-resistant bacteria; Staphylococcus aureus; Escherichia coli; Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
| Has the manuscript been published | not published |
|---|---|
| Intend to be published in the IJPS ? | Yes |
