Microscopic visualization of the antibiofilm potential of essential oils against Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae

Abstract

Biofilms are known to pose great risks in clinical settings, drinking water systems, and food industries as they show considerable resistance to various environmental stresses. This study investigates the antibiofilm potential of different essential oils against the test organisms Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (ATCC 13883). Moreover, different stages of biofilm formation were also assessed using light microscopic assays. For determining the antibiofilm activity, a total of five essential oils namely cinnamon (Cinnamomum Verum), tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia), lavender (Lavandula), peppermint (Mentha piperita), and lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) were tested for their ability to inhibit the initial attachment of microbial cells as well as the eradication of mature biofilm using the microtitre plate assay. For both the test strains (S. aureus and K. pneumoniae) the concentration of 30 μl/100 μl of cinnamon oil exhibited the highest antibiofilm activity followed by the activity of peppermint oil at the same concentration. These results were further validated by employing the light microscopy assay for observing the antibiofilm potential of cinnamon and peppermint essential oils.

Lipid nanoparticles based on natural matrices with activity against multidrug resistant bacterial species

“…Other studies have also showed significant antibacterial properties for cinnamon EO, which inhibited the growth of A. baumannii, P. aeruginosa and K. pneumoniae (El-Kattan and Allam, 2021;Ganicé t al., 2022;Coseriu et al, 2023). Furthermore, this EO exhibited higher antibiofilm activity against K. pneumoniae, followed by peppermint EO (Sarwar et al, 2022). Man et al ( 2019) investigated the antibacterial activity of some EO against some Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, including K. pneumoniae strains.…”

Comparison of the Efficacy of Longer versus Shorter Pulsed High Dose Dapsone Combination Therapy in the Treatment of Chronic Lyme Disease/Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome with Bartonellosis and Associated Coinfections

“…Although both dapsone and disulfiram have demonstrated some efficacy against resistant biofilm/persister forms of Borrelia burgdorferi [ 74 , 94 , 104 ], up to four different biofilm agents were regularly used during the DDDCT and HDDCT protocols to improve efficacy. These included Stevia [ 133 ], Biocidin [ 134 ], essential oils including oregano, cinnamon, and clove [ 135 ], as well as peppermint oil [ 136 ]. Rarely, a fifth biofilm agent, Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) suppositories (Detoxamin, 750 mg) [ 137 ], was considered the last week of HDDCT if patients had extremely severe symptoms and/or had failed prior regimens with DDDCT and HDDCT, with or without bioactive silver hydrosol (Argentyn 23), which was used for its antibacterial and synergistic effects [ 138 ].…”

Combining Double-Dose and High-Dose Pulsed Dapsone Combination Therapy for Chronic Lyme Disease/Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome and Co-Infections, Including Bartonella: A Report of 3 Cases and a Literature Review

“…Although both dapsone and disulfiram have demonstrated some efficacy against resistant biofilm/persister forms of Borrelia burgdorferi [71,118,119], up to four different biofilm agents were regularly used during the DDDCT and HDDCT protocols to improve efficacy. These included Stevia [120], Biocidin [121], essential oils, including oregano, cinnamon, and clove [122], and peppermint oil [123]. Rarely, a fifth biofilm agent, namely ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) suppositories (Detoxamin, 750 mg) [124], was considered in the last week of HDDCT if patients had extremely severe symptoms and/or had failed prior regimens with DDDCT and HDDCT, with or without bioactive silver hydrosol (Argentyn 23), which was used for its antibacterial and synergistic effects [125].…”