Study on Pseudomonas aeruginosa Isolated from Infected Patients: Copper Uptake, Hematological Findings and Effect of Some Medicinal Plants

Abstract

A local strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa was isolated from a patient suffering from burns. The isolated strain was characterized by morphological and biochemical examinations. This bacterial strain showed high copper uptake when inoculated and incubated with different copper sources such as cupric chloride dihydrate, cupric nitrate 3 hydrate and cupric sulfate, respectively. A comparison with two other species of bacteria indicated that the copper uptake by Pseudomonas aeruginosa was significantly higher than that of Bacillus thurengenesis or Enterobacter aerogenes (P<0.05). The minimum concentration of copper compound that gave 50% copper uptake was shown to be the lowest in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, irrespective of the copper compound being used as a copper source. An attempt was made to investigate the possible effect of certain medicinal plants and commercial antibiotics on the growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Out of 18 different medicinal plants examined, only Thymus capitatus (30 mg) gave a zone of inhibition 10mm. These medicinal plants were shown to be more effective against Bacillus thurengenesis and Enterobacter aerogenes in comparison to Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The hematological findings indicated that patients infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa have significant differences in comparison to the control gave in the several parameters examined serum copper (P<0.05), serum iron (P<0.05), Iron binding capacity (P<0.05), serum ceruloplasmin (P<0.05) and serum transferring (P<0.05). Two types of control groups were used, healthy individuals and uninfected patients who had burn injury.