Study of fullerene C60 effect on Escherichia coli in presence of antibiotics

Abstract The growing concern over antibiotic resistance necessitates novel strategies to enhance antimicrobial efficacy. This study investigates the synergistic effect of fullerene C60 on antibiotic susceptibility in Escherichia coli. In a standardized modification of the disc diffusion method, the zones of inhibition were measured on Mueller–Hinton agar with and without supplementation of fullerene C60 after incubation for 10 and 24 h, respectively. Fullerene C60 was noted for strengthening the antibacterial action of several antibiotics, especially to the extent of conversion of the bacteriostatic effect to bactericidal over a period. A statistically significant enhancement in the diameter of zones of inhibition was observed with tetracycline and co-trimoxazole, whereas amikacin and gentamicin evidenced only slight increases. The findings indicate that fullerene C60 could disrupt bacterial membrane integrity or metabolic activity, thereby potentiating the antibiotics. This paves the way for introducing nanomaterials like fullerene C60 into treatment strategies to target antibiotic resistance and bring about better therapeutic outcomes in bacterial infections.