Activity of Liposomal-Oleic Acid on Drug Resistant Strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Isolated from Clinical Specimens

Pseudomonas aeruginosa has rapidly developed resistance to multiple drugs throughout its antibiotic history and thus it is essential to develop novel antimicrobial strategies to minimize their resistance pattern. This study evaluated the antimicrobial activity of oleic acid (OA) in a liposomal formulation as a bactericidal drug against Multidrug Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MDRPa). Hence, we report the synthesis, characterization and the antimicrobial activity of liposomal oleic acids (LipoOA) against MDRPa. P. aeruginosa, isolated from pus on wound site and sputum from pulmonary infections were tested for its resistance against antibiotics by standard Kirby Bauer's disc diffusion method. Oleic acid (OA) in a liposomal formulation (LipoOA) was prepared by an extrusion method. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was utilized to monitor the surface morphology of LipoOA. The hydrodynamic size (diameter, nm), surface zeta potential (mV) of LipoOA and bare liposomes were measured using the Malvern Zetasizer. The encapsulation efficiency of OA in the synthesized LipoOA was determined using an LC-MS system. LipoOA were prepared to assess their antimicrobial activity against MDRPa. Encapsulation efficiency of OA in LipoOA was 33.7%. Strains were 100% resistance to cefepime and amikacin and 97.14% to to bramycin, ciprofloxacin and imipenem. Highly significant difference in LipoOA was observed for the clinical strain PS13 which exhibited an MIC of 1024 mg/L for amikacin and 512mg/L for cefepime by reducing the value to 67.4mg/L. In this study, therapeutic potential of liposomal oleic acids (LipoOA) against MDRPa was demonstrated. The synthesized LipoOA with diameter86.1 ± 0.5 nm fuses with bacterial membranes and subsequently releases the entrapped OA. Overall, this study highlights the promising possibility of using LipoOA as a new therapeutic option to the current antimicrobial strategies against MDRPa infections.