The Synergism Effects of Cercomin Nanoparticles on Antibacterial Action of Amikacin, Rifampin and Mropenem Antibioticsagainst Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Resistant to Multiple Drugs

Resistance to various antibiotics is one of the most problematic hospital complications and a mortality cause. Curcumin or diferuloylmethane is a strong antioxidant present in turmeric, and its antibiotic properties have attracted the attention of researchers. Also, this substance can penetrate other molecules. This research aims to investigate the synergistic effect of curcumin with three antibiotics rifampin, meropenem, and curcumin against Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

In this experimental study, curcumin was extracted at concentrations of 20, 40, 80, and 100 µg/ml. Antibiotics rifampin, meropenem, and amikacin were extracted at the same concentrations and their effect on the mean and standard deviation of the growth halo of Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria was investigated. Finally, a combination of antibiotics and curcumin in ratios of 75:25, 50:50 and 25:75 was made its effect on the mean and standard deviation of the halo diameter of non-growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria was investigated. In this study, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to determine whether the data were parametric or non-parametric, and then, according to the results of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, the mean comparison test was used.

By increasing the ratio of curcumin and antibiotics, the mean and standard deviation of the diameter of the non-growth halo against Pseudomonas aeruginosa increased compared to the antibiotic alone (rifampin- curcumin       P-value = 0/033, meropenem- curcumin P-value = 0/006, amikacin- curcumin P-value = 0/003). Also, with the increase of the amount of antibiotic and this ratio reached 25:75 (respectively curcumin: antibiotic), the mean and standard deviation of the diameter of the non-growth halo against Pseudomonas aeruginosa increased more strongly. The        non- growth halo of antibiotics rifampin, meropenem, and amikacin alone were 8/88 ± 0.0 mm, 31/11 ± 0/1 mm,       32/29 ± 0/0 mm, respectively, and in combination with curcumin were 24/5 ± 2/8 mm, 47/6 ± 0/7 mm, 49/8 ± 1/4 mm, respectively (all P-values less than 0/05).

Curcumin has a synergistic effect on the activity of rifampin, meropenem and amikacin antibiotics, and with increasing curcumin ratio, its effectiveness increases.