Vinegar Activity against Clinically Isolated Escherichia Coli

Abstract

Abstract Background: Antibiotic resistance in Escherichia coli (E. coli) has become a worrying issue been increasingly observed worldwide in recent decades. E. coli intrinsically has a great capacity to accumulate resistance, making them difficult to treat with standard therapies. So, using alternative strategies to treat it is urgent. Material and Methods: The bacteria were isolated from urinary tracts and wounds, and then cultured in three media (blood agar, MacConkey agar, and eosin methylene blue agar). They were incubated for 24 h at a temperature of 37oC to grow. The well diffusion method was used to evaluate the activity of vinegar, and the disk diffusion method was used for antibiotic sensitivity test of gentamicin as a control agent after overnight incubation. Statistical analysis was done by using SPSS 26 software. Results: Out of the 24 participants in the study, 66.6% were women, while 33.4% were men with significant differences (P < 0.05). Isolated E. coli (75%) were sensitive to vinegar, while 70.80% of isolates were sensitive to gentamycin. The mean inhibition zone for vinegar was 13 ± 6.04 mm compared to 15 ± 6.43 mm for gentamicin with no significant differences (P = 0.27). Conclusions: Vinegar shows 75% sensitivity to clinically isolated E. coli, and thus it can be a promising treatment option. Gentamicin with high rate of sensitivity can be used as an empirical treatment for E. coli infections. Vinegar has similar activity to gentamicin (P > 0.05).