The present study investigated the chemical composition of the essential oil (EO) from aerial parts (flowering stage) of Achillea wilhelmsii C. Koch by GC–MS. In addition, the antioxidant activity of the EO as well as its antimicrobial activity against methicillin-susceptible and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains was tested. Antioxidant activity was measured by the ability of the EO to scavenge 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals while the antimicrobial activity was assessed by the disc-diffusion method. In total, 52 compounds were recognized, accounting for 97.33 % of the EO. The main compounds in the EO were carvacrol (22.49 %), dihydrocarvone (13.23 %), linalool (12 %), 1,8-cineol (11.42 %), camphene (8.31 %), thymol (5.28 %), camphor (3.71 %), pulegone (2.82 %) α-terpineol (2.11 %), bornyl acetate (1.14 %), and farganol (1.01 %). The EC50 value of the EO was 0.01 and 0.08 mg/mL for the antioxidant and DPPH-scavenging ability, respectively. A. wilhelmsii EO affected methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) and MRSA, but the impact was more effective on MSSA.

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Background:Today, the commonly used antibiotics may more and more frequently be ineffective against multiple pathogens, due to the selection of resistant microbial strains. As a result, an effort to find a new approach for solving this issue has been considered.Aim:The aim of this study is to investigate antimicrobial properties of allicin, silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) and their combination again skin infection caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains in an animal model.Materials and Methods:In vivo, the effects of allicin, Ag NPs and their combination were investigated on mice in which the skin infection was caused by MRSA strains. In animals, S. aureus colony-forming units (CFU)/mL were counted the 4th day after treatment. In vitro, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of bacterial growth and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of allicin, Ag NPs and their combination were determined by microdilution technique.Results:The results of in vitro assays showed that MIC of allicin and Ag NPs were 2.2 mg/mL and 5.6 mg/mL, respectively, and MBC of allicin and Ag NPs were 3.1 ppm and 7.5 ppm, respectively. However, MIC and MBC of allicin and Ag NPs together on MRSA strains were 0.4 mg/mL and 1.1 ppm, respectively. The results of in vivo tests on skin infection showed that bacteria counted for control, Ag NPs, allicin and their combination were 377 × 108, 80 × 106, 43 × 105, and 0 CFU/mL, respectively.Conclusion:The obtained results clearly indicated (for the first time, to the best of our knowledge) that allicin and Ag NPs, when used in combination, exhibited a synergistic activity. Therefore, the present results can be of interest in the future to improve the treatment of skin infections caused by MRSA strains.

Background and Aims:The excessive and repeated use of antibiotics in medicine has led to the development of antibiotic-resistant microbial strains, including Staphylococcus aureus whose emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains has reduced the number of antibiotics available to treat clinical infections caused by this bacterium. In this study, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of methanolic extract of Xanthium strumarium L. leaves were evaluated on methicillin-susceptible and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) spp.Materials and Methods:Antiradical and antioxidant activities X. strumarium L. leaf extract were evaluated based on its ability to scavenge the synthetic 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical and by the paired diene method, respectively, whereas the antimicrobial activity was assayed by the disc diffusion method.Statistical Analysis:Data were subjected to analysis of variance following an entirely random design to determine the least significant difference at P < 0.05 using SPSS v. 11.5.Results and Conclusions:The IC50 values of the extract were 0.02 mg/mL and 0.09 mg/mL for the antioxidant and DPPH-scavenging capacity, respectively. X. strumarium extract affected both methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus and MRSA, though antibacterial activity was more effective on methicillin-susceptible S. aureus spp. The antibacterial and antioxidant activities exhibited by the methanol extract may justify the traditional use of this plant as a folk remedy worldwide.