Coupling of radiofrequency with magnetic nanoparticles treatment as an alternative physical antibacterial strategy against multiple drug resistant bacteria

Antibiotic resistant bacteria not only affect human health and but also threatens the safety in hospitals and among communities. However, the emergence of drug resistant bacteria is inevitable due to evolutionary selection as a consequence of indiscriminate antibiotic usage. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a novel strategy by which pathogenic bacteria can be eliminated without triggering resistance. We propose a novel magnetic nanoparticle-based physical treatment against pathogenic bacteria, which blocks biofilm formation and kills bacteria. In this approach, multiple drug resistant Staphylococcus aureus USA300 and uropathogenic Escherichia coli CFT073 are trapped to the positively charged magnetic core-shell nanoparticles (MCSNPs) by electrostatic interaction. All the trapped bacteria can be completely killed within 30 min owing to the loss of membrane potential and dysfunction of membrane-associated complexes when exposed to the radiofrequency current. These results indicate that MCSNP-based physical treatment can be an alternative antibacterial strategy without leading to antibiotic resistance, and can be used for many purposes including environmental and therapeutic applications.