A study to investigate antibacterial effect of Nanocurcumin against pre-clinical methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus infection

Subject Areas : Medical Microbiology

Elham Ansari ¹ , Khosro Issazadeh ² , Alireza Shoae Hassani ³

1 - MS.c., Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Lahijan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Lahijan, Iran.
2 - Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Lahijan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Lahijan, Iran.
3 - Assistant Professor, Department of Applied Cell Sciences, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine (SATiM), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Received: 2013-10-20 Accepted : 2013-12-09 Published : 2014-04-01

Keywords: Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Nano-curcumin, Antibacterial effect,

Abstract :

Background and Objectives: Bacteremia and endocarditis are the most commonly infection in Staphylococcus aureus. Due to curative effects of curcumin, including as an antibiotic, it can be used as a medicine albeit after reducing its side effects. This study aimed to investigate antimicrobial effects of curcumin on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in vitro and in an animal model (Balb/C mice). Materials and Methods: This pre-clinical study was performed in the department of scientific research and clinical technology of Khomeini Hospital, Tehran. Following synthesis of curcumin-PLGA nanoparticles, their size were measured using scanning electron microscopy and their toxicity were determined by a colorimetric method (MTT). In vitro studies to analyze the effects of this compound on MRSA were performed firstly based on MIC and MBC tests and broth dilution. Next, a same procedure was conducted on blood cultures obtained from infected mice. Results: A concentration of 6 micrograms of urcumin-PLGA nanoparticles per millimeter showed Antibacterial activity on MRSA strains. A same effect was observed in vivo in mice after treatment by 10 μg/ml urcumin. Furthermore, based on this results, there were no side effects on the normal cells and 75% of the cells treated with the highest concentration of this particle were survived. Conclusion: these results show that curcumin-PLGA nanoparticles can be used safely for the treatment of bacteremia and endocarditis prophylaxis of infections caused by MRSA.