Abu-Hussien Samah H, Nasry Antony R, Samy Ziad, El-Sayed Salwa M, Bakry Ashraf, Ebeed Naglaa, Elhariry Hesham, ElNoby Thanaa
Department of Agricultural Microbiology, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, Cairo, 11241, Egypt.
Biotechnology Program, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, Cairo, 11241, Egypt.
AMB Express. 2025 Jan 28;15(1):15. doi: 10.1186/s13568-024-01797-y.
The urgent need to address the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance in multidrug-resistant bacteria requires the development of pioneering approaches to treatment. The present study aims to evaluate the antimicrobial potential of the essential oils (EOs) of Moringa oleifera (moringa), Cinnamomum verum (cinnamon), and Nigella sativa (black seed) and the synergistic effect of the mixture of these oils against Staphylococcus aureus MCC 1351. Statistical modeling revealed cinnamon oil had the highest individual antimicrobial potency, followed by black seed oil. The combination of the three EOs exhibited significant synergistic effects compared to the individual oils, with a Fractional Inhibitory Concentration (∑FIC) index of 0.27. L-Optimal mixture design of response surface methodology (RSM) identified the optimal mixture as moringa: cinnamon: black seed oils by the ratio of (1:1:1) in run 15 (0.338:0.307:0.355 mL) (v/v). This mixture exhibited significant antibacterial efficacy, outperforming individual oils and conventional antibiotics like tetracycline. Specifically, the combination reduced the MIC values from 3.12, 0.78, and 6.25 to 0.25, 0.06, and 0.78 μg/mL for moringa, cinnamon, and black seed oil, respectively. Synergistic interactions between oils further boosted efficacy, with moringa-cinnamon and cinnamon-black seed pairings exhibiting the strongest synergies. The developed predictive models for IZD and MIC showed excellent fit, with R values of 0.9843 and 0.9958, respectively. Pareto chart analysis highlighted the predominant individual and synergistic effects, with the Moringa-Cinnamon interaction exhibiting the highest positive synergy. Notably, the oil mixture of run 15 demonstrated excellent biocompatibility, maintaining 97.6% viability of normal human skin fibroblasts (HSF) after 24 h exposure to 200 μL EOs of the mixture per mL. Gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS) identified abundant bioactive phytochemicals like cinnamaldehyde, linoleic acid, and palmitic acid methyl esters underlying the observed antimicrobial effects. This rationally designed, synergistic phytochemical combination presents a promising natural therapeutic against antibiotic-resistant S. aureus while exhibiting minimal cytotoxicity. The results underscore how combining essential oils could help address the issue of antibiotic resistance in S. aureus.
迫切需要解决多重耐药细菌中日益严重的抗菌药物耐药性问题，这就需要开发开创性的治疗方法。本研究旨在评估辣木、肉桂和黑种草籽精油（EOs）的抗菌潜力，以及这些精油混合物对金黄色葡萄球菌MCC 1351的协同作用。统计模型显示，肉桂油的个体抗菌效力最高，其次是黑种草籽油。与单一精油相比，三种EOs的组合表现出显著的协同效应，分数抑制浓度（∑FIC）指数为0.27。响应面法（RSM）的L-最优混合物设计确定最佳混合物为第15次运行中辣木：肉桂：黑种草籽油的比例为（1:1:1）（0.338:0.307:0.355 mL）（v/v）。这种混合物表现出显著的抗菌效果，优于单一精油和四环素等传统抗生素。具体而言，该组合将辣木、肉桂和黑种草籽油的最低抑菌浓度（MIC）值分别从3.12、0.78和6.25降低至0.25、0.06和0.78μg/mL。精油之间的协同相互作用进一步提高了疗效，辣木-肉桂和肉桂-黑种草籽组合表现出最强的协同作用。所建立的抑菌圈直径（IZD）和MIC预测模型拟合良好，R值分别为0.9843和0.9958。帕累托图分析突出了主要的个体和协同效应，辣木-肉桂相互作用表现出最高的正协同作用。值得注意的是，第15次运行的精油混合物表现出优异的生物相容性，在每毫升暴露于200μL该混合物的精油24小时后，正常人皮肤成纤维细胞（HSF）的活力维持在97.6%。气相色谱-质谱联用（GC/MS）鉴定出大量具有生物活性的植物化学物质，如肉桂醛、亚油酸和棕榈酸甲酯，这些物质是观察到的抗菌作用的基础。这种合理设计的协同植物化学组合是一种有前途的天然疗法，可对抗耐抗生素的金黄色葡萄球菌，同时表现出最小的细胞毒性。结果强调了精油组合如何有助于解决金黄色葡萄球菌的抗生素耐药性问题。
