Tuberculosis (TB) kills about 3 million people per year worldwide. Furthermore, TB is an infectious disease associated with HIV patients, and there is a rise in multidrug‐resistant TB (MDR‐TB) cases around the world. There is a need for new anti‐TB agents. The study evaluated the antimycobacterial activity of nine plants used in Mexican traditional medicine to treat tuberculosis and other respiratory diseases. Nasturtium officinale showed the best activity (MIC = 100 µg/mL) against the sensitive Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The following plants were active also but at 200 µg/mL: Citrus sinensis, Citrus aurantifolia, Foeniculum vulgare, Larrea tridentata, Musa acuminata and Olea europaea. Contrary to the above data, activity against drug‐resistant variants of M. tuberculosis was more evident, e.g. N. officinale was the most potent (MIC ≤ 100 µg/mL) against the four mono‐resistant variants tested; F. vulgare and O. europaea were active against all the resistant variants (MICs ≤ 100 µg/mL). The most susceptible variant was the isoniazid resistant, being inhibited by C. aurantifolia, C. sinensis and O. europaea (MIC = 25 µg/mL). These data point to the importance of biological testing of extracts against drug‐resistant M. tuberculosis isolates, and the bioguided assay of these extracts for the identification of lead compounds against MDR‐TB isolates. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Abstract:Presently the search for new drugs from natural resources is of growing interest to the pharmaceutical industry. Natural products have been the source of new drugs since ancient times. Plants are a good source of secondary metabolites which have been found to have beneficial properties. The present study is a review of the chemistry and pharmacology of Citrus sinensis. This review reveals the therapeutic potential of C. sinensis as a source of natural compounds with important activities that are beneficial for human health that could be used to develop new drugs.

The S. cohnii, S. hominis, and S. sciuri isolates analyzed in this study showed a high methicillin resistance and resistance to other antimicrobials. The results of this study strongly suggest that coagulase-negative staphylococci harbour new SCCmec elements. We report the first case of a clone of S. cohnii associated with human disease.

In México, mortality in home is greater than in hospital for patients with cancer. Our results have important implications for palliative care professionals and health services of México.

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