Antiplasmid Effect of Acridine Orange on Multiple Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Isolated From a Secondary Health Care Institution in Sokoto State

Abstract

This effort was intended at examining resistance loss of some hospital isolates after treatment with acridine orange. Thirteen (13) and sixty-five (65) isolates obtained from surgical wounds and theater air respectively from the Obstetrics and Gynecology (O&G) department of Specialist Hospital Sokoto, Nigeria were inoculated into sterile peptone water from which 1ml each was inoculated on Nutrient agar and MacConkey agar . The plates were incubated aerobically at 37oC for 24 h. The isolated bacteria were characterized based on their cultural and morphological characteristics as well as biochemical reactions. Antibiotic susceptibility profiles of the bacterial isolates were determined using agar disc diffusion methods on sterile Mueller Hinton agar plates before and after treatment with acridine orange (AO) as described in official monographs. Multi Antibiotic Resistant Index (MARI) of isolates was determined. Plasmid curing was carried out to determine if plasmid plays a role in antimicrobial resistance of the isolates. All the isolates were multiple antibiotic-resistant (100%). Treatment with acridine orange showed that most of the resistances observed were probably plasmid mediated.

Keywords: Antimicrobial, Antiplasmid, Resistance, Sokoto, Acridine orange, Plasmid curing