The Antimicrobial Potential of Certain Essential Oils Against Antibiotic Resistant Staphylococcus spp. Strains in Dogs

Abstract

Objective: This study monitored the level of antimicrobial resistance levels as well as the susceptibility to some essential oils in commensal, but potentially zoonotic Staphylococcus species isolated from healthy dogs’ skin. Material and Methods: The study was conducted on 24 dogs (n = 24), of various ages, from two habitats differentiated by the frequency of antibiotic usage. To identify the bacterial strains and their susceptibility to antimicrobial agents against nine antibiotics the Kirby Bauer disc diffusion and Vitek 2 Compact system were implied. The in vitro activity of essential oils of dill (Anethum graveolens), ginger (Zingiber officinale), geranium (Geranium spp), lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) was tested by aromatogram and quantifying the minimal inhibitory (MIC) and minimal bactericidal (MBC) concentrations. Student’s t- test was used to calculate the statistical significance of the differences. Results and Discussion: Using classical microbiological methods, 12 strains belonging to Staphylococcus genus were isolated. Nine strains of S. pseudintermedius (p<0.01), and one strain of each S. aureus, S. xylosus, and S. equorum were identified, against which amikacin proved to be most effective. The highest anti-staphyococcal efficacy was recorded in the essential oil of geranium, while the lowest activity was noted for the dill oil (p< 0.05-0.001). Conclusion: Geranium essential oil, which proved to be the most effective, offers, through its more bactericidal than bacteriostatic capacity, the possibility of interrupting the transfer of antibiotic resistance genes following preventive use. The biological activity of the tested extracts was plantand bacterial species dependent.

Keywords

• Staphylococcus
• dogs
• antimicrobial resistance
• essential oils

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