Antibiofilm activity of phytosynthesized ceria nanoparticles against carbapenem-resistant bacteria

The current study explored the effect of phytosynthesized nanoparticles as an anti-biofilm agent for various carbapenem-resistant local isolates. The bottom-up technique was utilized to create the phytosynthesized nanozyme, which was reduced and capped using cerium nitrate and Moringa oleifera . The physicochemical characterization was conducted using UV absorbance, XRD, EDX, and FE-SEM. The results confirmed the formation of nanoceria. Out of fifty Gram-negative and positive carbapenem-resistant clinical local isolates, 50% were found to produce biofilm, which was characterized by microscopic, morphological, and biochemical methods, and confirmed by using the VITEK® 2 COMPACT system, indicating that these isolates belong to the genera Pseudomonas, E. coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis, and Staphylococcus epidermidis . Five isolates were selected for inclusion in this study due to their strong biofilm production, and treated with phytosynthesized nanoceria nanozyme (5, 10, 20, 40, 80, and 100 ppm), compared to the control. The Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) indicated that treatments with different concentrations of nanozyme had a significant effect on biofilm formation (p < 0.02). The same analysis revealed that the differences in impact between various clinical isolates were also highly significant (p < 0.01). The comparison of means for different concentrations indicated significant differences as follows: (100 and 10), (80 and 10), (40 and 10), (control and 80), and (control and 100), with P-values of 0.007, 0.01, 0.02, 0.02, and 0.01, respectively. Additionally, significant differences were observed between Pseudomonas and the other clinical isolates, with P-values of 0.008, 0.001, and 0.007 for the differences between Pseudomonas and E. coli, Pseudomonas and Klebsiella , and Pseudomonas and Proteus , respectively. Meanwhile, no significant differences were noted among the other isolates included in the study, also between Pseudomonas and E. coli, Klebsiella , and Proteus , with P-values of 0.008, 0.001, and 0.007, respectively. No significant differences were observed among the other isolates included in the study. In conclusion, eco-friendly phytosynthesized nano cerium demonstrates its ability to disrupt membranes and prevent biofilm formation. Nanoceria has a highly significant effect in most concentrations against different Gram-negative and positive biofilm-producing bacteria.