Antibacterial effects of nickel nano-particles on biofilm production amounts by B.capacia ATCC 25416

Background & Aims: B.cepacia is one of the causative agents of health care associated infections which have the ability of attachment to different surfaces and biofilm formation is one of the most important virulence factors in pathogenesis of this microorganism. Nanoparticles are key components which are considered for the designing of new antimicrobial agents, no studies have been done on the anti-biofilm effects of Ni-NPs on B.cepacia, so the aim of this study was to evaluate the anti-biofilm effects of different concentrations of Ni-NPs on B.cepacia. Materials & Methods: Microtiter plate method was used to determine the potential of the B.capacia ATCC 25416 in respect of biofilm production. The amounts of biofilm formation were also measured in the presence of 0.01, 0.1, 0.5 and 1 mg/mL concentrations of Ni- NPs. Statistical analysis was done by one-way ANOVA to determine significant differences between groups. Results: The study results revealed that B.capacia ATCC 25416 was strong biofilm producer. Biofilm formation significantly decreased in the presence of 1, 0.5 and 0.1 mg/mL of Ni-NPs (p=0.00, 0.00 and 0.008 respectively). Although in the presence of 0.01mg/mL of Ni-NPs decrease in biofilm formation was observed, but it was not statistically significant (P=0.08). Conclusion: The present study showed the ability of biofilm formation by B.capacia ATCC 25416. On the other hand, the lowering effects of nickel nanoparticles on biofilm formation by this microorganism were observed.