y2019m11b26
20191127152000
assa
nadine@assaf.org.za
assa
South African Journal of Science
S. Afr. J. Sci
1996-7489
11272019
115
11/12
Antimicrobial activity and toxicity profile of selected southern African medicinal plants against neglected gut pathogens
Hlambani
Shirinda
Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Carmen
Leonard
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, South Africa
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7656-8888
Geoffery
Candy
Department of Surgery, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5449-1277
Sandy
Van Vuuren
Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4859-1845
Anaerobes outnumber aerobic bacteria in the human gut. The most commonly isolated microorganisms in intra-abdominal infections include Escherichia coli, Peptostreptococcus micros as well as Bacteroides and Clostridium species. Several studies have been undertaken on southern African medicinal plant species and their antimicrobial efficacy against pathogens such as E. coli that cause stomach ailments. However, pathogens such as Helicobacter pylori, Fusobacterium varium as well as others have been neglected in medicinal plant antimicrobial research. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of selected medicinal plants documented for stomach ailments against neglected gut pathogens. A total of 102 aqueous and organic extracts were prepared from 40 different plant species. These plant samples were screened for antimicrobial efficacy against eight anaerobes and two microaerophilic strains using the micro-dilution antimicrobial assay. Plant extracts that displayed noteworthy antimicrobial activity against Clostridium perfringens were further evaluated for antibiofilm activity using the crystal violet staining assay. The toxicity profiles of plants that displayed noteworthy antimicrobial activity were evaluated using the brine shrimp lethality assay which revealed that most of the tested plant samples were non-toxic in nature, and the aqueous extracts proved to be safer. The organic extract of Lippia javanica leaf showed the best antimicrobial activity with a minimum inhibitory concentration of 0.5 μg/mL against C. perfringens. The organic extract of Salvia africana-caerulea displayed the best antibiofilm activity overall, at cell attachment (4 h) biofilm developmental stage with inhibition percentages of 82.8%.
11272019
1
10.17159/sajs.2016/crossmark
sajs.co.za
false
2019-04-04
2019-07-25
2019-11-27
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
10.17159/sajs.2019/6199
20191127152000
https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/6199
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https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/6199/9506
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https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/6199/9506
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https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/6199/9506
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https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/6199/9506
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https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/6199/9506
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https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/6199/9506
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https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/6199/9506