Antimycobacterial effects of cerium oxide nanoparticles on mycobacterium smegmatis

Abstract

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) remains a global health crisis, with drug resistance posing a significant challenge. Albeit preventable and curable, TB still has a high mortality rate and has resurged as the leading cause of death from a single infectious agent surpassing COVID-19, above HIV/AIDS globally. The treatment of TB is a 6-month course which has low patient compliance due to the lengthy treatment duration and adverse effects, which ultimately leads to drug resistance – a health crisis! Drug resistance can be treated by different treatment options from the normal TB treatment which can be expensive. Nanotechnology holds promise to address these issues and circumvent drug resistance while offering cost-effective treatment options. Aims: Owing to their unique antibacterial mechanism, NPs have gained popularity in the biomedical field. This study aims to explore the antibacterial activity of cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeO2 NPs) as an innovative antimycobacterial agent, using Mycobacterium smegmatis as the mycobacterial research model. To the best of our knowledge, no studies in the literature report the activity of these NPs against mycobacteria. Hypothesis: This research hypothesized that CeO2 NPs can inhibit the growth of M. smegmatis.