Broad-Spectrum Antimicrobial Activity of Ultrafine (BiO)₂CO₃ NPs Functionalized with PVP That Can Overcome the Resistance to Ciprofloxacin, AgNPs and Meropenem in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Although it has no known biochemical role in living organisms, bismuth has been used to treat syphilis, diarrhea, gastritis and colitis for almost a century due to its nontoxic nature to mammalian cells. When prepared via a top-down sonication route from a bulk sample, bismuth subcarbonate (BiO)(2)CO3 nanoparticles (NPs) with an average size of 5.35 +/- 0.82 nm exhibit broad-spectrum potent antibacterial activity against both the gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria including methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (DSSA), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), drug-susceptible Pseudomonas aeruginosa (DSPA) and multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (DRPA). Specifically, the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) are 2.0 mu g/mL against DSSA and MRSA and 0.75 mu g/mL against DSPA and DRPA. In sharp contrast to ciprofloxacin, AgNPs and meropenem, (BiO)(2)CO3 NPs show no sign of developing Bi-resistant phenotypes after 30 consecutive passages. On the other hand, such NPs can readily overcome the resistance to ciprofloxacin, AgNPs and meropenem in DSPA. Finally, the combination of (BiO)(2)CO3 NPs and meropenem shows a synergistic effect with the fractional inhibitory concentration (FIC) index of 0.45.