Allium sativum extract mediate the biosynthesis of palladium nanoparticles as potential nanodrug for combating multidrug-resistant bacteria and wound healing

Skin infections and wound management remain a significant medical challenge. The healing process can be significantly delayed by infectious bacteria, particularly when they resistance to antibiotics and form biofilms, resulting in persistent infections. Therefore, we aimed in this study to develop novel palladium nanoparticle (Pd NPs) as a potential nanodrug for skin infections treatment that possess combined effects of antibacterial, antibiofilm, enhance antibiotic efficacy and wound healing properties. Biogenic Pd NPs were synthesized using an Allium sativum (A. sativum) aqueous extract. Pd NPs were characterized by Uv–vis, FT-IR, XRD and SEM. The hemolysis assay demonstrates that Pd NPs exhibit excellent biocompatibility for blood-contacting applications. The antibacterial and antibiofilm properties of Pd NPs, both individually and incorporated with antibiotics, were tested against pathogenic multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria isolated from clinical skin infection cases. Disk diffusion assay results revealed significant antibacterial activity of Pd NPs against MDR bacteria ranged from 14 to 22 mm2. The MICs of the Pd NPs against the MDR bacterial strains varied between 3.125 and 50 U/mL. However, when the Pd NPs were combined with antibiotics, they demonstrated a synergistic effect, resulting in enhanced efficacy. Also, Pd NPs exhibited antibiofilm activity reached 65 and 72 % of biofilm inhibition percentage for S. aureus and P. aeruginosa, respectively. Furthermore, their antibiofilm effectiveness increased in inhibiting the tested biofilms strains when used in combination with antibiotics. The SEM examination for Pd NPs impact on free cells and biofilms revealed significant damage, including morphology change and clusters of Pd NPs on the bacterial cell wall and biofilms. In a rat experimental infection model, the Pd NPs alone and in combination with antibiotics showed improved MDR bacterial elimination and enhanced epidermal regeneration. These findings suggest that Pd NPs offer promising antibacterial and antibiofilm agents, enhancer of antibiotic effectiveness and be employed in wound dressings to prevent microbial infections. •The PdNPs are synthesized using an A. sativum extract by green method and characterized using UV–vis, FT-IR, XRD and SEM.•The PdNPs exhibit excellent biocompatibility for blood-contacting applications.•The PdNPs exhibited significant antibacterial, antibiofilm, and synergistic effect with antibiotics against bacteria.•The S