Essential oil of Melaleuca alternifolia is effective against ESBL- and KPC-producing multiresistant isolates that cause hospital infections

• Autor(a) principal: Gioppo, Alessandra
• Data de Publicação: 2019
• Outros Autores: Zancanaro, Vilmair, Bellaver, Emyr Hiago
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Biotemas (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/biotemas/article/view/2175-7925.2019v32n3p35

The production of ?-lactamases by Gram-negative bacteria is the main form of antimicrobial resistance, especially broad-spectrum ?-lactamases (ESBL) and carbapenemases (KPC). To control multiresistant microorganisms, secondary plant metabolites are being studied to develop new drugs. The essential oil of Melaleuca alternifolia (OTT) has antifungal, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effects, of which the latter is attributed mainly to terpenes present in its composition. This work aimed to determine the antimicrobial potential of OTT emulsions against ESBL- and KPC- producing, multiresistant isolates of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates responsible for nosocomial infections. The antibacterial activity of the essential oil emulsions was determined by the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) using the following methods: tube macrodilution, spot-on-the-lawn, agar diffusion and disk diffusion. Concentrations that inhibited bacterial growth ranged from 0.25% to 1.5% for the different methodologies applied. The essential oil emulsions of Melaleuca alternifolia inhibited the growth of multiresistant bacteria, as observed for the tube macrodilution and spot-on-the-lawn methods. The ESBL-producing Escherichia coli proved to be the most sensitive strain to describe the antibacterial potential of the oil, which should be evaluated in future studies as a control agent.