Antibacterial and antibiofilm properties of silver nanoparticles synthesized using Carthamus tinctorius extract against various multidrug-resistant bacterial strains
Marwa T. Hamid, Nehia N. Hussein, Ghassan M. Sulaiman, Hamdoon A. Mohammed
Abstract
The flower extract of Carthamus tinctorius has been used in the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and exhibited positive results in biomedical applications, specifically antibacterial and antibiofilm activity. The objective of this research was to design a greener and more effective approach toward the synthesis of AgNPs as well as assess multidrug-resistant biofilm-forming bacteria’s antimicrobial activity. Different techniques of characterization like UV–visible spectroscopy, SEM, TEM, FTIR, and EDX confirmed that the spherical-shaped AgNPs, which were successfully biosynthesized in the size range of 20–60 nm. A peak in the UV–visible spectrum was seen at around 417 nm, indicating the formation of the AgNPs. The antimicrobial effect of the biosynthesized AgNPs was examined against Staphylococcus haemolyticus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae , and Acinetobacter baumannii in dilutions of 100–6.25 µg/mL. The results showed that the inhibition was dose-dependent, with the greatest level of inhibition seen at 100 µg/mL. The largest inhibition zones were demonstrated in E. coli and A. baumannii cultures at the values of 16.66 mm and 16.33 mm, respectively. For all strains tested, the minimum inhibitory concentration and the minimum bactericidal concentration were determined at 6.25 µg/mL. Moreover, subMIC concentrations of AgNPs showed high antibiofilm activity, confirming the use of AgNPs as antibiofilm agents. These results propose further usage of AgNPs in biotechnology and pharmacology as a bioactive agent against bacterial infection, biofilms, and drug-resistant bacteria. The usefulness of C. tinctorius AgNPs in the development of antimicrobial therapies is made apparent due to the studies.