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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Antibiotic Resistance and New Antimicrobial drugs
Volume 14 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2024.1505469

Hexagonal Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles: A Novel Approach to Combat Multidrug-Resistant Enterococcus faecalis Biofilms in Feline Urinary Tract Infections

Provisionally accepted
Alaa Sewid Alaa Sewid 1Mohamed Sharaf Mohamed Sharaf 2Azza SalahEldin El-Demerdash Azza SalahEldin El-Demerdash 3*Sherif M Ragab Sherif M Ragab 4Fatimah O Al-Otibi Fatimah O Al-Otibi 5MOHAMED TAHA YASSIN MOHAMED TAHA YASSIN 5Chenguang Liu Chenguang Liu 2
  • 1 Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Al Sharqia, Egypt
  • 2 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Life Sciences, China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China
  • 3 Animal Health Research Institute (Egypt), Giza, Egypt
  • 4 Faculty of Agriculture, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Beni Suef, Egypt
  • 5 King Saud University, Riyadh, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Enterococcus faecalis, a significant pathogen causing urinary tract infections in domestic cats, is notorious for its biofilm formation and multidrug resistance. This study investigated the antibacterial and antibiofilm properties of hexagonal zinc oxide (ZnONPs) nanoparticles, enhanced with streptomycin and Moringa oleifera leaf extract . Antimicrobial susceptibility testing revealed alarming resistance rates to ampicillin (92.8%), vancomycin (64.2%), and streptomycin (42.8%), with 64.2% of isolates being multidrug-resistant. Biofilm formation was confirmed in 13 clinical isolates, with the presence of biofilm-associated genes sprE, gelE and fsrABC.ZnONPs, Str/ZnONPs, and Str/MOLe@ZnONPs were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). FTIR analysis confirmed the encapsulation of streptomycin and MOLe within ZnONPs. TEM and SEM revealed uniform hexagonal/spherical nanoparticles with average sizes of ~65 nm, ~199 nm, and ~270 nm, respectively. ζ-potential values were -19.8± 0.22mV, -29.1± 0.12, and -33.1±0.55mV. Time kill, well diffusion, gene expression and crystal violet biofilm assays demonstrated the potent antibacterial and antibiofilm activity of Str/MOLe@ZnONPs against extensive and pan-drug-resistant E. faecalis strains. These findings highlight

    Keywords: Enterococcus faecalis, Moringaoleifera Lam, Hexagonal nanoencapsulation, multi-drug resistant, Biofilm

    Received: 02 Oct 2024; Accepted: 27 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Sewid, Sharaf, El-Demerdash, Ragab, Al-Otibi, TAHA YASSIN and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Azza SalahEldin El-Demerdash, Animal Health Research Institute (Egypt), Giza, Egypt

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.