Efflux Pump and Biofilm Inhibitory Activity of Nanoparticles in Acinetobacter Baumannii: a Systematic Review

Acinetobacter baumannii produce biofilm and efflux pumps. This systematic review study aimed to provide new strategies to inhibit the efflux pumps and biofilm in A. baumannii using nanoparticles.

In this research, analyses from 2000 to February 24, 2022, were performed by the Statement of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews (PRISMA). Keywords include Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii) AND (biofilm) AND (anti-biofilm activity) AND (nanoparticles) AND (solid lipid NPS) AND (lipid nanocarriers), and in other searches include Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumanni) AND (efflux pumps) AND (nanoparticles) AND (solid lipid NPS) AND (lipid nanocarriers). Searches were conducted in English databases, including Science Direct, PubMed, Scopus, Ovid, and Cochrane.

At first, 136 studies were extracted, but after removing duplicates, 116 cases remained for further analysis. After evaluating the title and abstract of each study, 95 unrelated studies were excluded. The remaining 25 studies were reviewed based on full texts. Considering the inclusion/exclusion criteria, 19 studies were selected. In this study, metal nanoparticles were the most used nanoparticles for anti-biofilm and efflux pump purposes, and among these nanoparticles, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) contributed the most.

The present study shows that nanoparticles have potential and significant effects in inhibiting biofilm and efflux pumps in A. baumannii isolates, which researchers can consider in light of the increasing prevalence of antibiotic resistance.