Synergy and Mechanism of the Action of the Combination of Essential Oils and Antibiotics Against Antibiotic-Resistant Food Borne Disease Bacteria in Burkina Faso.

BACKGROUND

Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is an important developing threat for human health. Therefore, searching for alternatives through the synergistic combination of essential oils with conventional antibiotics is one of the relevant approaches. This study aims to investigate the mechanism of action of essential oils isolated from local common medicinal plants of Burkina Faso ( and ) combined with three antibiotics (ciprofloxacin, amoxicillin + clavulanic acid and colistin) against resistant-bacterial strains (08) involved in toxi-intoxic effects ( ATCC 2523, ATCC 25922, ATCC 9027, 0366 V, SKN 1152, 0998 V, 0486 V, 0938 V).

METHODS

The methodological approach consisted of evaluating the antibacterial activity followed by investigating antibacterial mechanism.

RESULTS

The MICs (minimum inhibitory concentration) of and ranged from 4.05 mg/mL to 64.92 mg/mL and from 9.57 mg/mL to 38.28 mg/mL, respectively. Checkerboard assays revealed synergistic effects resulting in reductions of 93.69% and 87.73%, respectively, in amoxicillin+ clavulanic acid and colistin MICs. Protein and nucleic acid leakage assays demonstrated that peptidoglycan and cytoplasmic membrane damage induced by the synergistic combination were significantly greater than those in the control. The viable count of bacteria for this combination showed a complete killing profile after 12 hours and further.

CONCLUSION

It appears from this study that the combinations (essential oil-antibiotic) reduced the MICs of the antibiotics and eradicated antibiotic-resistant bacteria completely. This combination could constitute an excellent means against bacterial resistance to antibiotics.