Synergistic effect of Thymbra spicata L. extracts with antibiotics against multidrug- resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae strains

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Faculty of Pharmacy, Al Andalus University for Medical Sciences, Syria

2 Faculty of Pharmacy, Aleppo University, Syria

3 Public Health Department, Center for Strategic Studies and Research, Aleppo University, Syria

Abstract

Objective(s): To evaluate the in vitro interaction between different extracts of Thymbra spicata L. and certain antimicrobial drugs of different mechanisms, including ampicillin, cefotaxime, amikacin and ciprofloxacin. This study was performed against multidrug-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae.
Materials and Methods: Evaluation of antibacterial activity and synergy interaction between plant extracts and antimicrobial agents was carried out using checkerboard microdilution.
Results: Different interactions (synergistic, additive and indifference) were observed between plant crude extracts and used antibiotics depending on the strain. The fractional inhibitory concentration (FIC) index ranged from 0.02 to 1.5 for S. aureus and 0.25 to 2 for K. pneumoniae strains. The best synergistic capacity appeared with cefotaxime against S. aureus strains, where the activity of cefotaxime was increased from 8- to 128-fold.
Conclusion: These results may indicate that T. spicata extracts potentiates the antimicrobial action of antibiotics, suggesting a possible utilization of this herb in combination therapy against emerging multidrug-resistance S. aureus and K. pneumoniae.

Keywords


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