Synergistic effects of Cinnamomum cassia L. essential oil in combination with polymyxin B against carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae and Serratia marcescens

Multidrug resistance prompts the search for new sources of antibiotics with new targets at bacteria cell. To investigate the antibacterial activity of Cinnamomum cassia L. essential oil (CCeo) alone and in combination with antibiotics against carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae and Serratia marcescens. The antimicrobial susceptibility of the strains was determined by Vitek® 2 and confirmed by MALDI-TOF/TOF. The antibacterial activity of CCeo and its synergism with antibiotics was determined using agar disk diffusion, broth microdilution, time-kill, and checkboard methods. The integrity of the bacterial cell membrane in S. marcescens was monitored by protein leakage assay. CCeo exhibited inhibitory effects with MIC = 281.25 μg.mL-1. The association between CCeo and polymyxin B showed a decrease in terms of viable cell counts on survival curves over time after a 4 hour-treatment with a FIC index value of 0.006. Protein leakage was observed with increasing concentrations for CCeo and CCeo + polymyxin B treatments. CCeo showed antibacterial activity against the studied strains. When associated with polymyxin B, a synergistic effect was able to inhibit bacterial growth rapidly and consistently, making it a potential candidate for the development of an alternative treatment and drug delivery system for carbapenemase-producing strains.