Impact of ZnO nanoparticles on MagA gene expression in Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from diabetic foot ulcers

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is an accumulation of glucose in the blood. Diabetic mellitus is divided into gestational diabetes, type 1 and type 2. Complications of diabetes mellitus include diabetic foot ulcers. The most important complication of diabetic foot ulcers is bacterial infection, which leads to gangrene when various types of antibiotics fail to prevent bacterial infections. To explore the effect of synthetic zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) on the expression of the MagA gene in Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from diabetic foot ulcer cases. ZnONPs were biosynthesized by Aspergillus niger and characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and UV-visible spectroscopy. The inhibitory effect of ZnONPs on K. pneumoniae isolates was examined by determining the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the ZnONPs. Besides, the values of the MagA gene before and after exposure to ZnONPs would be examined by RT-qPCR, with 16SrRNA gene as the reference gene. According to SEM and XRD results, the ZnONPs are in the form of nanocrystals and have small spherical crystals with an average size of 13.5 nm. The highest optical density of the synthesized nanoparticles was obtained at 390 nm. The biosynthesized ZnONPs exhibit a strong inhibition zone against K. pneumoniae corresponding to 125 μg/mL. The fold of gene expression ranged from 0.042 to 0.118. The research reveals that ZnONPs exhibit strong antibacterial potential and affect gene expression in K. pneumoniae strains. The results of the present study indicate that ZnONPs can indeed be used in the treatment of infectious bacteria.