Evaluation of the Effect of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles on the Inhibition of Biofilm formation of standard Pathogenic Bacteria and Comparison with Drug Resistant Isolates

Introduction: Traditional medicines cannot adequately reach the target tissues, due to their large size; therefore, the attention of researchers has been drawn to the use of nanomedicines. In fact, the use of biological active compounds loaded on the surface of nanoparticles can be effective the in the promotion of their antimicrobial activity. In the earlier studies, it was demonstrated that biologically synthesized Phycocyanin Zinc Oxide nanoparticles were able to prevent the biofilm formation and growth deriving from some native clinical medicine-resistant isolates.   Materials & Methods: In the current research the effect of these nanoparticles on the growth and biofilm formation of three standard strains of pathogenic bacteria has been carefully studied. The bacterial growth kinetic, exopolysaccharides and biofilm formation in the presence of nanoparticles were examined under the microscope.  Findings: Treatment of tested strains at 2750 μg/ml concentration of nanoparticles prevented the growth of all strains and bacterial growth decreased over time by the increase in the concentration of nanoparticles. Furthermore, microscopic analyses showed that the formation of biofilms in the presence of nanoparticles significantly reduced, compared to the control samples.   Discussion & Conclusions: The results showed that the biosynthesized ZnO nanoparticles not only have the ability to inhibit the development of biofilms of tested strains but also they can reduce the pathogenicity of these strains by influencing their growth.