Antimicrobial Efficacy of Argon Cold Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jet on Clinical Isolates of Multidrug-Resistant ESKAPE Bacteria

Abstract

The rise in multidrug-resistant (MDR) ESKAPE bacteria have become a major therapeutic challenge globally. Recently, novel cold atmospheric pressure plasma (CAP) as an antimicrobial is becoming popular. In this study, an indigenously developed AC cold atmospheric pressure plasma jet (CAPJ) fed with argon gas was used to evaluate its antimicrobial efficacy on these bacteria isolated from clinical specimens such as urine, blood, and sputum in a tertiary care hospital in India. The difference in CAP's antimicrobial activity on Gram-negative bacilli (MDR E. coli) and Grampositive cocci (MDR S. aureus) was observed with various input parameters, such as microbial concentration, CAP exposure time, and exposure distance. It was observed that oxidative stress induced by reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (O2 -, NO + , OH . , H2O2, ONOO -, NO . , NO2 . , HO2 . , O3 -, etc.) and electrostatic stress by ions (Ar + , O + , O2 -, OH -, NO + , OH + , NO3 -, NO2 -, O3 -, etc.) might play a crucial role in microbial inactivation. In addition to this, a decrease in adenosine triphosphate concentration post-CAP exposure in a liquid media suggested an efficient microbial inactivation effect. The outcome of this research would be extremely beneficial to multidisciplinary researchers in this field.

Efficacy of argon cold atmospheric pressure plasma jet on hospital surface decontamination and its impact on the surface property

“…Further, the molecular beam mass spectrometer (MBMS) (HPR 60 MBMS, Hidden Analytics Ltd, UK) was used to acquire time-averaged mass spectra in the range of 1 to 100 amu (m/z). The relative yield percentage of a specific ion [24,30,59] was used for estimation of ion composition. The position of the MBMS entrance slit with respect to the CAP plume tip was 10 mm to ensure minimal discharge disturbances.…”

“…For antimicrobial activity evaluation, clinically isolated MDR E. coli (GNB) and MDR S. aureus (GPC) were used. The methodology details regarding the collection of isolates and antimicrobial susceptibility characterization of the MDR bacteria used in this study have been described elsewhere [24,30]. A 0.5 McFarland standard or 1.5 × 10 8 CFU/ml (checked using a densitometer, DENSICHECK PLUS, BIO MERIUX) bacterial suspension of the isolate was prepared in sterile 0.9% saline.…”

“…In general, the CAP is a weakly ionized gas discharge composed of electrons, excited atoms and molecules, ions, ultraviolet radiation (UV), electric field, etc that interact with the ambient air species to produce reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) such as OH•, NO•, NO 2 •, etc [17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. The copious of RONS, ions, electrons, and excited species integrates an antimicrobial nature to the discharge [17,[24][25][26][27][28][29]. The efficacy of CAP in removing the microbial load from nutrient culture media [24,[30][31][32][33][34] or liquid suspensions [24,31,[35][36][37] have been studied.…”

“…The copious of RONS, ions, electrons, and excited species integrates an antimicrobial nature to the discharge [17,[24][25][26][27][28][29]. The efficacy of CAP in removing the microbial load from nutrient culture media [24,[30][31][32][33][34] or liquid suspensions [24,31,[35][36][37] have been studied. Das et al [24] and Flynn et al [38] showed the efficacy of CAP jet on the inactivation of clinically isolated ESKAPE pathogens.…”

“…The efficacy of CAP in removing the microbial load from nutrient culture media [24,[30][31][32][33][34] or liquid suspensions [24,31,[35][36][37] have been studied. Das et al [24] and Flynn et al [38] showed the efficacy of CAP jet on the inactivation of clinically isolated ESKAPE pathogens. Also, the susceptibility of different types of bacterial biofilms (Gramnegative (P. aeruginosa, P. libanensis, and E. cloaceae) and Gram-positive (K. carniphila, S. epidermidis, and B. subtilis)) towards argon CAP jet was compared [39].…”