EFFECT OF SILIBININ ON THE SENSITIVITY OF ENTEROBACTER CLOACAE RESISTANT ISOLATE TO GENTAMICIN: IN VITRO STUDYWATHIQ MOHAMMED AL-JEWARI, ZAID OSAMA IBRAHEEM, SAMER SHUKUR MOHAMMED, WAEL WALEED MUSTAFA AND SAAD ABDULRAHMAN HUSSAINAbstract The present study was designed to evaluate the influence of silibinin on the gentamicin activity against the resistant strain of Enterobacter cloacae.A gentamicin resistant isolate of Enterobacter cloaca was obtained from Al-Sheikh Zayed hospital, Baghdad and cultivated in Mueller Hinton agar; the impact of different concentrations of gentamicin, silibinin or their combination were determined using the conventional drug sensitivity assay to determine the growth inhibitory parameters of each.The study revealed strong resistance for the pathogen against gentamicin and very poor sensitivity for silibinin at the highest concentration used. The isobologram technique was followed to determine the interaction of both drugs against the pathogen. Silibinin antagonizes the gentamicin effect when combined at 7:3, 5:5 and 3:7 ratios.In conclusion, silibinin can augment resistance of Enterobacter cloacae to gentamicin when coadministered as a combination. Further studies are recommended to determine the precise mechanism through which gentamicin resistance was conferred and the way through which silibinin antagonized gentamicin. |