Preparation, characterization, and antibacterial competence of silymarin and its nano-formulation

Abstract

Nowadays, antibiotic resistance is a serious problem, especially in countries that have unregulated use of antibiotics. We aimed to prepare and characterize Sily-Nano from silymarin to present its antimicrobial activities in comparison to silymarin and gentamycin and provide natural antibacterial from natural sources. Silymarin NPs (Sily-Nano) were prepared using a high-pressure homogenization and characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), ultraviolet-visible (UV-visible) spectrum, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The antibacterial monitoring of Sily-Nano and silymarin was compared against Escherichia coli UN75 (E.coli-UN75), Enterobacter aerogenes SL3 (E.aerogenes-SL3), Staphylococcus aureus-PS41 (S.aureus-PS41), and Klebsiella pneumoniae-BD29 (K.pneumoniae-BD29). Sily-Nano was effectively prepared and confirmed using FTIR. SEM, with even distribution, and significant bacterial zone inhibition, compared with silymarin. In conclusion, Sily-Nano preparation is an efficient agent, and effective against certain clinical antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains. Sily-Nano has a novel significant inhibitory effect against the antibiotic-resistant strain of K. pneumonia-BD29, Ent. Aerogenes-SL3 and E. coli UN75 when compared with silymarin and the common antibiotic gentamycin. Therefore, sily-Nano is potentially used as an antibacterial and natural sanitizer agent.

Keywords:

• Nano-silymarin
• preparation
• characterization
• antimicrobial
• MIC
• FTIR

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the BASRC Research Center and IRMC for their assistance during the work. Also, we thank the staff members of the Chemistry Department for their kind support in this work and hope to acknowledge the Vice Deanship of Scientific Research at the University of Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal.

Authors’ contributions

The authors' FSA, EK, MN, and KAA designed, conducted the experimental work, biochemical and statistical analysis, interpretation, and discussion of the findings, and wrote the paper related to their portion of the work. SA drafted the work and substantively revised it. Also, she approved the modified submitted version. Help in the revised version. All authors read, revised, and approved the final manuscript.

Availability of data and material

The datasets used and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The investigations have complied with the National Institutes of Health guidelines. We confirm that this study was carried out in agreement with local ethical committee standards, with the consent of Imam Abdulrahman University’s Institutional Review Board (IRB).

Funding

The design of the study, collection, analysis, chemicals, interpretation of data, and writing the manuscript were supported by funding from the project (21-04-82) financed by the Deanship of Scientific Research at the University of Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal.