Bactericidal efficacy of molybdenum oxide nanoparticles against antimicrobial-resistant pathogens

• Autor(a) principal: Lopes, Elizeth
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Outros Autores: Piçarra, S., Almeida, Pedro L., Lencastre, H. de, Aires-de-Sousa, Marta
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.21/9371
• topic: Molybdenum oxide; Nanoparticles; Multidrug-resistant bacteria; Bactericidal efficacy; Nanopartículas; Bactérias multirresistentes

Multidrug-resistant bacteria pose a major threat to effective antibiotics and alternatives to fight multidrug-resistant pathogens are needed. We synthetized molybdenum oxide (MoO3) nanoparticles (NP) and determined their antibacterial activity against 39 isolates: (i) eight Staphylococcus aureus, including representatives of methicillin-resistant S. aureus epidemic clones; (ii) six enterococci, including vancomycin-resistant isolates; and (iii) 25 Gram-negative isolates (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii, Enterobacter cloacae), including extended spectrum beta-lactamases and carbapenemases producers. All isolates showed a MoO3 NP MIC of 700–800 mg l−1. MoO3 NP produced a clear inhibition zone for S. aureus and all Gram-negative isolates at concentrations ≥25 mg ml−1 and ≥50 mg ml−1 for enterococci. When the NP solutions were adjusted to pH ~7, the biocidal activity was completely abolished. MoO3 NP create an acidic pH and show a universal antimicrobial activity against susceptible and resistant isolates belonging to the most relevant bacterial species responsible for hospital-acquired infections.