Background. Skin infections occur commonly and often present therapeutic challenges to practitioners due to the growing\nconcerns regarding multidrug-resistant bacterial, viral, and fungal strains. The antimicrobial properties of zinc sulfate and copper\nsulfate are well known and have been investigated for many years. However, the synergistic activity between these two metal\nions as antimicrobial ingredients has not been evaluated in topical formulations. Objective. The aims of the present study were\nto (1) formulate topical creams and gels containing zinc and copper alone or in combination and (2) evaluate the in vitro\nantibacterial activity of these metal ions in the formulations. Method. Formulation of the gels and creams was followed by evaluating\ntheir organoleptic characteristics, physicochemical properties, and in vitro antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and\nStaphylococcus aureus. Results. Zinc sulfate and copper sulfate had a strong synergistic antibacterial activity in the creams and gels.\nThe minimum effective concentration was found to be 3 w/w% for both active ingredients against the two tested microorganisms.\nConclusions. This study evaluated and confirmed the synergistic in vitro antibacterial effect of copper sulfate and zinc sulfate in a\ncream and two gels.
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