The Effect of Subinhibitory Concentrations of -Anethole on Antibacterial and Antibiofilm Activity of Mupirocin Against Mupirocin-Resistant Strains.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of subinhibitory concentrations of -anethole on antibacterial and antibiofilm properties of mupirocin against mupirocin-resistant strains. Following parameters were examined: isolates susceptibility to antibiotics, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of -anethole, antibacterial activity of mupirocin/-anethole combination, detection of gene, genotypic relativity of isolates using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis method, and the influence of mupirocin/-anethole combination on biofilm formation. Our study revealed that -anethole combined with mupirocin increased the growth inhibition zone diameter around the mupirocin disk, independently on strains susceptibility to this antibiotic. Moreover, combination of subinhibitory (MIC) concentration of mupirocin and -anethole significantly decreased biofilm biomass. Anethole appeared efficient in increasing susceptibility to mupirocin and decreasing biofilm formation in strains used in this study. Reduction of biofilm formation can potentially protect against recolonization. Moreover, use of anethole in combination with mupirocin can increase the mupirocin activity against methicillin-resistant and mupirocin-resistant strains.