Synergism between plant extract and antimicrobial drugs used on Staphylococcus aureus diseases

Abstract

Searches for substances with antimicrobial activity are frequent, and medicinal plants have been considered interesting by some researchers since they are frequently used in popular medicine as remedies for many infectious diseases. The aim of this study was to verify the synergism between 13 antimicrobial drugs and 8 plant extracts -"guaco" (Mikania glomerata), guava (Psidium guajava), clove (Syzygium aromaticum), garlic (Allium sativum), lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus), ginger (Zingiber officinale), "carqueja" (Baccharis trimera), and mint (Mentha piperita) -against Staphylococcus aureus strains, and for this purpose, the disk method was the antimicrobial susceptibility test performed. Petri dishes were prepared with or without dilution of plant extracts at sub-inhibitory concentrations in Mueller-Hinton Agar (MHA) In a constant attempt to improve their quality of life, men have used plants as source of food, shelter, clothing, medicine, cosmetics, and for seeking relief from hardship of life. Some plants are known as medicinal because they contain active substances that cause certain reactions, from relenting to the cure of diseases, on the human organism (Silva Junior et al. 1994). Knowledge on medicinal plants sometimes means the only therapeutic resource of some communities and ethnic groups (Di Stasi 1996); and their use, especially in South America, contributes significantly to primary health care (Holetz et al. 2002). Infectious diseases still represent an important cause of morbidity and mortality among humans, especially in developing countries. Even though pharmaceutical industries have produced a number of new antimicrobial drugs in the last years, resistance to these drugs by microorganisms has increased. In general, bacteria have the genetic ability to transmit and acquire resistance to drugs used as therapeutic agents (Nascimento et al. 2000).In vitro studies on plants used in traditional medicine have been carried out in the field of microbiology, especially on pathogenic bacterial growth; and some of these studies were about the antimicrobial activity of Mikania glomerata Spreng ("guaco") (Boyayan 2002, Holetz et al. 2002, Psidium guajava L (guava) (Gnan & Demello 1999, Jaiarj et al. 1999, Nascimento et al. 2000, Ahmad & Beg 2001, Abdelrahim et al. 2002, Holetz et al. 2002, Voravuthikunchai et al. 2004, Qadan et al. 2005, Syzygium MATERIALS AND METHODSPlant samples -M. glomerata, P. guajava, B. trimera, M. piperita, and C. citratus samples were collected in 2004 from an experimental field of the School of Agronomical Sciences, Unesp, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil, and the voucher specimens were deposited at the Herbarium of the Department of Botany, Institute of Biosciences, Unesp. Their leaves were dried at 40 o C and triturated in a mechanical mill. A. sativum, S. aromaticum, and Z. officinale samples were obtained from the local commerce in the same year and were used in natura for the extracts preparation. Preparation of plant extracts -Plant material, dried (M. glomerata, P. guajava, B. ...

Effect of ethanolic extract of Ecballium elaterium against Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans

“…In order to assess the effect of combinations of ethanolic extract and antibiotic, the MIC values for antibiotic were determined to be as a reference point for defining the interactions [26] . Synergistic effects resulting from the combination of antibiotics with various plant extracts have been studied earlier against MRSA or MSSA [27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41] . From this study, ethanolic extract of E. elaterium fruits is very efficient in treating infectious diseases caused by MRSA and may also helpful for treating diseases caused by C. albicans.…”

“…Exposure to light was avoided to prevent the loss of effective ingredients. Approximately [30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40] g of dried material were mixed thoroughly with magnetic stirrer in 200 mL of 80% ethanol at room temperature and the mixture left for 24 h. The insoluble materials were removed by centrifugation at 10 000 rpm for 10 min at 4 曟. Then, the extract was evaporated to dryness at 37 曟.…”

Biosynthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Using Eucalyptus Bicolor Bark and their Antimicrobial Activity

“…Table (2) exhibited antimicrobial effect of antibiotics was more marked against gram-positive bacteria than gram-negative that's may be because the differences of the cell wall structure between Gram positive and negative bacteria (11,12). Mixture of Eucalyptus bicolor extract with antibiotics exhibited synergistic affect, in most tests, table (2,3) The mechanism of the synergistic effect unclear, but, studies suggest that Plant antimicrobials not have a strong antimicrobial activity alone, but when they were taken with antibiotics they increase the effect of that antibiotics (16,17). Eucalyptus bicolor extract has the phenols, flavonoids, tannins and alkaloids.…”

Interações medicamentosas associadas a fitoterápicos fornecidos pelo Sistema Único de Saúde

“…Interações Medicamentosas: O extrato seco dessa planta pode interagir, sinergicamente in vitro, com alguns antibióticos como tetraciclinas, gentamicina, vancomicina e penicilina 19,35 . Tem interação moderada com anticoagulantes e há risco de sangramento nas coagulopatias e dengue 19 .…”

“…É necessário tomar precaução na administração deste fitoterápico em pacientes anêmicos ou crianças 14 . Outro estudo mostrou que a hortelã administrada por via oral pode aumentar os níveis sanguíneos de fármacos como o felodipino e a sinvastatina 35 . Em outro estudo avaliando o uso do óleo de hortelã, os pesquisadores apontaram que este aumentou os níveis de ciclosporina no sangue.…”