a study of the effect of zataria multiflora extract on methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus

background one of the most common nasocomial bacteria is methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (mrsa). today, herbal extracts like zataria multiflora from the lamiaceae family are increasingly used. objectives in this study, the antibacterial effect of z. multiflora on 75 strains of was evaluated. materials and methods the strains of staphylococcus aureus were examined for isolation of strains. 75 out of 232 strains were diagnosed as by oxacillin 6µg /ml screening method. the extracts of z. multiflora were prepared from dried leaves using a maceration method. the antibacterial activity of the extract with initial concentration of 200 µg /ml was determined by the micro broth dilution method. results the obtained results showed that the minimum inhibitory concentration (mic) varied from 2 to 16µg /ml for strains. it inhibited the growth of s. epidermidis, s. saprophyticus and methicillin sensitive s. aureus (mssa) by about 8-16 µg/ml. the minimum bactericidal concentration (mbc) of the extract that could destroy 62.2% strains and the other examined bacteria was 512 µg /ml or more. conclusions in conclusion, it seems that z. multiflora extracts could inhibit the growth of all of the mentioned bacteria. we noticed that the bactericidal effect of z. multiflora extracts was less than its bacteriostatic effects.