Study of the Effects of Audible Sounds and Magnetic Fields on Staphylococcus aureus Methicillin Resistance and mecA Gene Expression

Mustafa A-M. Ali and Bahaa A. L. Al-Rubaii*

University of Baghdad, College of Science, Department of Biology.Baghdad, Iraq

Corresponding Author: [email protected]; Tel: +9647709780888

Recieved Date: 03 January 2020; Accepted Date: 19 May 2021; Published Date: 03 June

Citation: Ali MAM and Al-Rubaii BAL. Study of the Effects of Audible Sounds and Magnetic Fields on Staphylococcus aureus Methicillin Resistance and mecA Gene Expression. Trop J Nat Prod Res. 2021; 5(5):825-830. http://www.doi.org/10.26538/tjnpr/v5i5.6

Copyright:

© 2021 Ali and Al-Rubaii et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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ABSTRACT

Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one of the most dangerous antibiotic-resistant strains due to the wide range of illnesses it can cause. For this reason, the study aimed to evaluate the effect of different physical parameters (audible sound and magnetic fields) on resistance pattern and mecA gene expression of MRSA strains.  A total of 193 S. aureus clinical isolates were collected from local hospitals in Baghdad, Iraq. Antibiotic disc diffusion method was employed to identify MRSA using cefoxitin antibiotic, and to examine the resistance of the isolates to gentamycin, tetracycline, penicillin G and ciprofloxacin. Effect of two audio treatments; heavy metal music and classic music and two magnets (65 mT/600 Gauss and 80 mT/800 Gauss) were investigated on methicillin resistance of multidrug-resistant strains MRSA and their mecA gene expression. MRSA comprised 27.9%, while antibiotic resistance profiling revealed that 5.5% were multidrug-resistant MRSA. Furthermore, when exposed to heavy metal music, isolates showed a small increase in sensitivity diameter, while on exposure to classical music, isolates showed no increased sensitivity. The inhibitory zone diameter was enlarged, and the susceptibility of all treated isolates appeared to be sensitive. Magnetic fields treatments, on the other hand, also showed increased susceptibility of isolates compared to control, with the large magnet having a potent effect in terms of making the tested isolates completely sensitive. The expression of mecA gene under the effect of classic music and large magnet was down-regulated by 0.07- and 0.03-fold changes, respectively, using Real-Time qPCR