Ethanolic extracts of six plants: Arum palaestinum Bioss, Urtica pilulifera L., Thymbra capitata (L.) Cav., Origanum syriacum L., Teucrium creticum L., and Teucrium polium L., used in Traditional Arabic Palestinian Herbal Medicine were evaluated for their antibacterial, anti-candida, and antidermatophyte activities using well diffusion, micro-dilution and food poisoned techniques. The extracts were tested against: six bacterial strains including Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae; five Candida albicans isolates, and two dermatophytes: Microsporum canis, and Trichophyton rubrum. The most active plants extracts were T. capitata and O. syriacum against the tested bacteria, while the remaining plant extracts did not express any activity or exhibited only very low activity against tested bacteria species and candida isolates. O. syriacum was also the most active plant against all Candida strains with inhibition zones that ranged from 22.5 to 29.5 mm. On the other hand, T. capitata extract showed the highest activity against the test dermatophytes (producing a complete inhibition at = 45 µg/mL).
Ethanolic extracts of six plants: Arum palaestinum Bioss, Urtica pilulifera L., Thymbra capitata (L.) Cav., Origanum syriacum L., Teucrium creticum L., and Teucrium polium L., used in Traditional Arabic Palestinian Herbal Medicine were evaluated for their antibacterial, anti-candida, and antidermatophyte activities using well diffusion, micro-dilution and food poisoned techniques. The extracts were tested against: six bacterial strains including Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae; five Candida albicans isolates, and two dermatophytes: Microsporum canis, and Trichophyton rubrum. The most active plants extracts were T. capitata and O. syriacum against the tested bacteria, while the remaining plant extracts did not express any activity or exhibited only very low activity against tested bacteria species and candida isolates. O. syriacum was also the most active plant against all Candida strains with inhibition zones that ranged from 22.5 to 29.5 mm. On the other hand, T. capitata extract showed the highest activity against the test dermatophytes (producing a complete inhibition at = 45 µg/mL).
Ethanolic and aqueous extracts of 20 Palestinian plant species used in folk medicine were investigated for their antimicrobial activities against five bacterial species (Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli,Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and one yeast (Candida albicans). The plants showed 90% of antimicrobial activity, with significant difference in activity between the different plants. The most antimicrobially active plants were Phagnalon rupestre and Micromeria nervosa, whereas, the least active plant was Ziziphus spina-christi. Only ten of the tested plant extracts were active against C. albicans, with the most active from M. nervosa and Inula viscosa and the least active from Ruscus aculeatus. Of all extracts the ethanolic extract of M. nervosa was the most active, whereas, the aqueous extract of Phagnalon rupestre was the most active of all aqueous extracts tested. The ethanolic extracts (70%) showed activity against both Gram positive and negative bacteria and 40% of these extracts showed anticandidal activity, whereas, 50% of the aqueous extracts showed antibacterial activity and 20% of these extracts showed anticandidal activity.
Streptococcus pneumoniae is one of the most important bacterial pathogens that affect respiratory system. The occurrence of multidrug-resistant strains of S. pneumoniae necessitates the discovery of new classes of anti-pneumonia drugs. As some of the medicinal plants and their extracts have antibacterial activity, we aimed to investigate the antibacterial potential of five Palestinian wild medicinal plants including Echinops adenocaulos, Parietaria judaica, Urtica urens, Verbascum fruticulosum and Vitex agnus-castus against multidrug-resistant strain of S. pneumoniae, which was screened for its antibiotic resistance profile showing 67% resistance of the tested antibiotics. In this research micro-broth dilution method was used to study the inhibitory activity of ethanol, distilled water and Zamzam water extracts of all plants under investigation. The obtained results showed that all Zamzam extracts of the five studied plant species inhibited the growth of S. pneumoniae. It was clearly noticed that there was a difference in the antibacterial activity between distilled water and Zamzam water extracts recording higher activity in the Zamzam water extract of some of the studied plant species. Verbascum fruticulosum distilled water extract was the most effective one with MIC equal to 0.195 mg/ml. In general, both water extracts were more bioactive than the ethanol extracts for all the examined plants. These results confirmed the possibility of using these plant species in medicine and pharmaceutical industry of new drugs for the treatment of multidrug-resistant clinical isolates of S. pneumoniae.
Streptococcus pneumoniae is one of the most important bacterial pathogens that affect respiratory system. The occurrence of multidrug-resistant strains of S. pneumoniae necessitates the discovery of new classes of anti-pneumonia drugs. As some of the medicinal plants and their extracts have antibacterial activity, we aimed to investigate the antibacterial potential of five Palestinian wild medicinal plants including Echinops adenocaulos, Parietaria judaica, Urtica urens, Verbascum fruticulosum and Vitex agnus-castus against multidrug-resistant strain of S. pneumoniae, which was screened for its antibiotic resistance profile showing 67% resistance of the tested antibiotics. In this research micro-broth dilution method was used to study the inhibitory activity of ethanol, distilled water and Zamzam water extracts of all plants under investigation. The obtained results showed that all Zamzam extracts of the five studied plant species inhibited the growth of S. pneumoniae. It was clearly noticed that there was a difference in the antibacterial activity between distilled water and Zamzam water extracts recording higher activity in the Zamzam water extract of some of the studied plant species. Verbascum fruticulosum distilled water extract was the most effective one with MIC equal to 0.195 mg/ml. In general, both water extracts were more bioactive than the ethanol extracts for all the examined plants. These results confirmed the possibility of using these plant species in medicine and pharmaceutical industry of new drugs for the treatment of multidrug-resistant clinical isolates of S. pneumoniae.
Disk diffusion and micro-dilution techniques were used to determine the antibacterial activity of water, ethanolic and methanolic extracts of Rhus coriaria ripe berries against five clinical bacterial strains (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), multi-drug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157 (EHEC), Proteus vulgaris and Klebsiella pneumoniae). Bacillus subtilis ATCC6633 was used as a reference strain. The zone of inhibition varies depending on bacterial species and type of extract. The average diameter of inhibition zones ranges from 0 to 19 mm, 15 to 25 mm and 15 to 22 mm for water, ethanolic and methanolic extract, respectively. The MIC value of ethanolic extract was 1.25 mg/ml against MRSA, EHEC, P. aeruginosa and Proteus vulgaris, while 0.156 mg/ml against B. subtilis. In general these results showed that the antibacterial activity of R. coriaria ripe berries extracts was more effective against Gram-positive bacteria than Gram-negative.
Objective To determine the antimicrobial
activity of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) and to investigate the
synergistic effects of this extract combined with ceforuxime against
methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
Methods The
inhibitory and bactericidal activities of rosemary ethanol extract, alone and
in combination with cefuroxime, were studied.
Results The minimum
inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of the ethanol extract of rosemary were in the
range of 0.39–3.13 mg/mL. The minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBCs) were
usually equal to or double that MICs. The antimicrobial activity of
combinations of the ethanol extract of rosemary and cefuroxime indicated their
synergistic effects against all MRSAs.
Conclusions The present work
clearly demonstrates that rosemary has a key role in the elevation of
susceptibility to β-lactams.