Effect of Peganum harmala or its β‐carboline alkaloids on certain antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria and protozoa from poultry

Abstract

In the present study the antimicrobial potential of various extracts from 12 medicinal plants has been investigated in vitro on multiple antibiotic resistant pathogens and some selected protozoa isolated from poultry. The initial examination was performed on E. coli (n = 10) using disc and agar well diffusion assays. Only two plants, Peganum harmala (seeds) and Eucalyptus globulus (leaves) showed positive responses. The active extracts were also investigated against an additional 19 bacteria and the clonal cultures of three protozoa (Histomonas meleagridis, Tetratrichomonas gallinarum and Blastocystis sp.). Only Peganum harmala was found to inhibit the growth of all bacteria and protozoa at 0.38-1.55 mg/mL and 0.63-1.65 mg/mL, respectively. To investigate the potential role of alkaloids in crude extracts of Peganum harmala, four known beta-carbolin alkaloids were quantified and their antimicrobial activity was compared using a microdilution assay. Harmaline was found to be in the highest concentration followed by harmine and harmalol, whereas harmane could not be detected. The activity of the pure alkaloids was in the order harmane > harmaline > harmalol > or = harmine for all bacteria, while for protozoa, it was different depending on the microorganism. It is concluded that Peganum harmala or its alkaloids could probably be used for the control of antibiotic resistant isolates of bacteria as well as protozoa.

A review on medicinal importance, pharmacological activity and bioanalytical aspects of beta-carboline alkaloid “Harmine”

“…Cell cycle analysis suggests that harmine does not induce apoptosis in Leishmania donovani promastigotes although playing a part in the cell division stage [17] . In another study, harmine was found to be effective against bacteria and protozoa [18,19] . The potential induction of a programmed cell death in Trypanosoma b. brucei by harmine was studied by measuring DNA fragmentation and changes in potential of mitochondrial membrane.…”

Antihistomonal effects of artemisinin andArtemisia annuaextractsin vitrocould not be confirmed byin vivoexperiments in turkeys and chickens

“…Within recent years a trend towards non-chemotherapeutic alternative means has been set in the combat of histomonosis. Despite this awareness there is still only a limited number of in vitro studies on the effects of natural compounds on H. meleagridis available (Zenner et al, 2003;Grabensteiner et al, 2007Grabensteiner et al, , 2008Hauck & Hafez, 2007;Arshad et al, 2008;van der Heijden & Landman, 2008a). The situation is similar when it comes to evaluating the impact of natural compounds on histomonosis in vivo (Duffy et al, 2004(Duffy et al, , 2005Hafez & Hauck, 2006;Grabensteiner et al, 2008;van der Heijden & Landman, 2008b).…”

Welfare of Broilers Ingesting a Pre-Slaughter Hydric Diet of Lemon Grass

“…Lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus Stapf) affects the sympathetic nervous system, reducing stress (Negrelle & Gomes, 2007). Although some researchers investigated the use of phytotherapy in poultry production, most are related to animal nutrition (Wenk, 2003;Hashemi & Davoodi, 2010) and microbiological control (Arshad et al, 2008;Lourenço et al, 2013). This study aimed at evaluating the use of lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus Stapf) to reduce broiler pre-slaughter stress.…”