Anti bacterial activity of Nigella sativa against clinical isolates of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus
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Updated: Jun 21, 2026

Biosensor for Detection of Antibiotic Resistant Staphylococcus Bacteria
Published on: May 8, 2013
Abdul Hannan1, Sidrah Saleem, Saadia Chaudhary
1Department of Microbiology, University of Health Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan.
Background:
Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) continues to be one of the commonest pathogens encountered in clinical as well as laboratory practice. It has become a major health problem worldwide. Newer antimicrobials/agents are urgently needed to combat this problem MRSA resistance to various anti-staphylococcal agents. In the back-drop of this difficult situation Nigella sativa commonly known as black seed (ethanolic extract) was aimed at to evaluate if it had any anti-staphylococcal activity.
Methods:
The extract was prepared by reflux extraction method. Disc diffusion and in agar dilution methods were performed to assess the antibacterial activity. Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 was used as the standard reference strain.
Results:
All tested strains of MRSA were sensitive to N. sativa extract at a concentration of 4 mg/disc while the extract had an MIC range of 0.2-0.5 mg/ml.
Conclusion:
The results indicated that N. sativa has inhibitory effect on MRSA. This finding warrants necessity of further investigation of this product of folk medicine.
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