"Though many previous studies have reported antimicrobial activity of cinnamon essential oil, it is not widely used in the pharmaceutical industry," Topa said.
‘Cinnamaldehyde present in cinnamon oil can help fight superbugs and develop alternatives to antibiotics.’
"We aimed to search for the molecular activity of this oil, focusing on its major component, cinnamaldehyde. This is the compound that gives cinnamon its flavor."
There is an urgent need to develop alternatives to antibiotics to treat chronic biofilm-mediated infections, such as may occur with urinary catheters and artificial joints.
Rather than killing the bacteria, Topa looked to modify the behaviour of bacteria by disrupting bacterial communication to prevent biofilm formation.
"We hypothesised that using natural antimicrobials, such as essential oils, might interfere in biofilm formation. Thus, we focused on the impact of different concentrations of cinnamaldehyde in different biofilm development stages," she noted.
In the study, published in the journal
Microbiology, Topa tested the effect of different concentrations of cinnamaldehyde on biofilms formed from the pathogenic
Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain of bacteria.
The results showed a sub-lethal concentration of cinnamaldehyde controlled the dispersion of
Pseudomonas aeruginosa and the development of biofilm.
"Humans have a long history of using natural products to treat infections, and there is a renewed focus on such antimicrobial compounds. Natural products may offer a promising solution to this problem," Topa said.
She is now investigating embedding cinnamaldehyde in nanofibres in wound dressings.
Source: IANS
