The Susceptibility of Klebsiella pneumoniae ESBL+ Strains to Clove (Syzygium aromaticum) Essential Oil

The aim of this work was to investigate the antibacterial activity of clove (Syzygium aromaticum) essential oil against multidrug resistant clinical strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae ESBL+. Materials: The antibacterial activity of the oil was tested against standard strain Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC 700603 and 60 clinical strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from patients with infections of the respiratory tract, abdominal cavity, urinary tract, skin and from the hospital environment. Methods: The agar dilution method was used to assess the inhibition of microbial growth at various concentrations of the clove oil. Susceptibility testing to antibiotics was carried out using disc-diffusion. Results: The results of experiments showed that clove essential oil possessed very strong activity against all of the clinical strains of extendedspectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing ESBL+ from Klebsiella pneumoniae. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest the potential use of clove essential oil against K. pneumoniae ESBL+ that is responsible for infections difficult to treat. Essential oils my be an excellent alternative for synthetic preparations and, used in combination with antibiotics, may prevent antibiotic-resistant strain development.