Synergistic Antibacterial Potential of Greenly Synthesized Silver Nanoparticles with Fosfomycin Against Some Nosocomial Bacterial Pathogens

Abstract

UV spectral analysis affirmed the successful formation of AgNPs through the detection of broad absorption band at 395 and 524 nm, indicating the surface plasmon resonance of the biofabricated AgNPs. In this setting, the biofabricated AgNPs demonstrated average particle size of 58.682 nm according to transmission electron microscope (TEM) micrographs. The detected hydrodynamic diameter was higher than that noticed by TEM analysis, recording 72.30 nm in diameter and this could be attributed to the action of capping agents, which was confirmed by Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) analysis. Disk diffusion assay indicated the antibacterial potency of biogenic AgNPs (50 μg/disk) against <i>Enterobacter cloacae</i>, Methicillin-resistant <i>Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae</i> and <i>Escherichia coli</i> strains with relative inhibition zone diameters of 12.82 ± 0.36 mm, 14.54 ± 0.15 mm, 18.35 ± 0.24 mm and 21.69 ± 0.12 mm, respectively. In addition, <i>E. coli</i> was found to be the most susceptible strain to the biogenic AgNPs. However, the highest synergistic pattern of AgNPs-fosfomycin combination was detected against <i>K. pneumonia</i> strain recording relative synergistic percentage of 64.22%. In conclusion, the detected synergistic efficiency of AgNPs and the antibiotic fosfomycin highlight the potential for utilizing this combination in the biofabrication of effective antibacterial agents against nosocomial pathogens.