Formulation and Evaluation of Antibacterial Creams and Gels Containing Metal Ions for Topical Application
Open accessAbstract
Background. Skin infections occur commonly and often present therapeutic challenges to practitioners due to the growing concerns regarding multidrug-resistant bacterial, viral, and fungal strains. The antimicrobial properties of zinc sulfate and copper sulfate are well known and have been investigated for many years. However, the synergistic activity between these two metal ions as antimicrobial ingredients has not been evaluated in topical formulations. Objective. The aims of the present study were to (1) formulate topical creams and gels containing zinc and copper alone or in combination and (2) evaluate the in vitro antibacterial activity of these metal ions in the formulations. Method. Formulation of the gels and creams was followed by evaluating their organoleptic characteristics, physicochemical properties, and in vitro antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Results. Zinc sulfate and copper sulfate had a strong synergistic antibacterial activity in the creams and gels. The minimum effective concentration was found to be 3 w/w% for both active ingredients against the two tested microorganisms. Conclusions. This study evaluated and confirmed the synergistic in vitro antibacterial effect of copper sulfate and zinc sulfate in a cream and two gels.
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Some substances are harmful to rabbits but not to humans, and vice versa.
“Both animal and human studies are preferably conducted in skin irritancy tests as some substances are harmful to rabbits but not to humans, and vice versa [148,149].”
From A Review of Moisturizers; History, Preparation, Characterization and Applications (2022) · cites this paper as [148]
The Introduction discusses diaper rash as irritant contact dermatitis, and the Methods describe physical evaluation of the formulations; neither addresses differences between rabbit and human skin responses. Searches for rabbits, humans, and skin-irritancy testing found no passage supporting the attributed claim. Page numbers were not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.76)
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- Authors
- Chen, M. X., Alexander, K. S., & Baki, G.
- Affiliations
- University of Toledo (US)
- Corresponding author
- Baki, Gabriella
- ORCID
- Baki, Gabriella
- Venue
- Journal of Pharmaceutics
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2016-11-03
- Volume
- 2016
- Pages
- 1-10
- ISSN
- 2090-7818 (ISSN-L)
- 2090-9918
- PMC
- PMC5112321
- OpenAlex
- W2548239066
- Cited by
- 173
- References
- 28
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 29 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 24 · 2021: 30 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 1.99
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Pharmaceutics (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Organic Chemistry › Antimicrobial agents and applications
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Materials Chemistry › Nanoparticles: synthesis and applications
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Essential Oils and Antimicrobial Activity
- Keywords
- zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, topical cream, topical gel, antibacterial activity, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, skin infections, multidrug resistance, minimum effective concentration, physicochemical properties, sensory properties
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