Antimicrobial Activity of Selected Medicinal Plants from a Sub-Saharan African Country against Bacterial Pathogens from Post-Operative Wound Infections

Background: Globally, the application of medicinal plants in the management of acute and chronic wounds can be considered a common occurrence in most traditional medicine practices. In view of this, many plants in the tropical and subtropical regions have been screened for their wound-healing activi...

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Main Authors: Enid Owusu, Martin Mensah Ahorlu, Emmanuel Afutu, Amos Akumwena, George Awuku Asare
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-03-01
Series:Medical Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3271/9/2/23
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author Enid Owusu
Martin Mensah Ahorlu
Emmanuel Afutu
Amos Akumwena
George Awuku Asare
author_facet Enid Owusu
Martin Mensah Ahorlu
Emmanuel Afutu
Amos Akumwena
George Awuku Asare
author_sort Enid Owusu
collection DOAJ
description Background: Globally, the application of medicinal plants in the management of acute and chronic wounds can be considered a common occurrence in most traditional medicine practices. In view of this, many plants in the tropical and subtropical regions have been screened for their wound-healing activities. Consequently, plants having antimicrobial activity against multidrug-resistant (MD-R) pathogens can be considered great assets. Therefore, this study evaluated ethanolic and aqueous extracts of five medicinal plants (<i>Psidium guajava</i>, <i>Myrianthus arboreus</i>, <i>Alchornea cordifolia</i>, <i>Momordica charantia</i>, and <i>Justicia flava</i>) for their antimicrobial activities against MD-R bacterial pathogens isolated from post-operative wounds; Methods: This involved the aqueous and ethanolic extraction of the selected medicinal plants. Preliminary phytochemical constituents of the plants were examined. The agar well diffusion method was then used to determine the antibacterial activity of the leaves against reference strains (<i>Escherichia coli</i> ATCC 25922, <i>Salmonella typhi</i> ATCC 19430, <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> ATCC 27853 and <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> ATCC 25923, and a Methicillin-Resistant <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> strain) as well as the MDR clinical isolates (<i>E. coli</i>, <i>P. aeruginosa</i>, <i>S. aureus</i> and <i>CoNS</i>) from the wounds; Results: The preliminary phytochemical analysis of the leaves showed the presence of saponins, phenolics, and reducing sugars in almost all the plants tested. All plant extracts were observed to have some antimicrobial activity against at least one reference strain. For the clinical MDR isolates, <i>A. cordifolia</i> from this study showed highest inhibition to growth of all bacteria used. Activity of <i>J. flava</i> against <i>S. aureus</i> was highest as compared to that of <i>E.coli</i> and <i>P. aeruginosa</i>. Similar observation was made for <i>M. arboreus</i>, <i>P. guajava</i> and <i>M. charantia</i> where the highest activity was observed against <i>S. aureus</i>; Conclusion: This study has mainly shown that <i>P. guajava</i>, <i>M. arboreus</i>, <i>A. cordifolia</i>, <i>M. charantia</i>, and <i>J. flava</i> exhibits antimicrobial activities against MD-R bacterial pathogens isolated from post-operative wounds. Also, these plants has bioactive phytochemical compounds with potential medicinal values for the treatment of numerous infections. Therefore, these plants may be helpful in the management of acute and chronic wounds, especially in traditional medicine practices.
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spelling doaj.art-f004c176faec43848c24eb85bd8870962023-11-21T13:37:36ZengMDPI AGMedical Sciences2076-32712021-03-01922310.3390/medsci9020023Antimicrobial Activity of Selected Medicinal Plants from a Sub-Saharan African Country against Bacterial Pathogens from Post-Operative Wound InfectionsEnid Owusu0Martin Mensah Ahorlu1Emmanuel Afutu2Amos Akumwena3George Awuku Asare4Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, School of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Accra 00233, GhanaDepartment of Medical Laboratory Sciences, School of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Accra 00233, GhanaDepartment of Medical Microbiology, School of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Accra 00233, GhanaDepartment of Medical Microbiology, School of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Accra 00233, GhanaDepartment of Medical Laboratory Sciences, School of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Accra 00233, GhanaBackground: Globally, the application of medicinal plants in the management of acute and chronic wounds can be considered a common occurrence in most traditional medicine practices. In view of this, many plants in the tropical and subtropical regions have been screened for their wound-healing activities. Consequently, plants having antimicrobial activity against multidrug-resistant (MD-R) pathogens can be considered great assets. Therefore, this study evaluated ethanolic and aqueous extracts of five medicinal plants (<i>Psidium guajava</i>, <i>Myrianthus arboreus</i>, <i>Alchornea cordifolia</i>, <i>Momordica charantia</i>, and <i>Justicia flava</i>) for their antimicrobial activities against MD-R bacterial pathogens isolated from post-operative wounds; Methods: This involved the aqueous and ethanolic extraction of the selected medicinal plants. Preliminary phytochemical constituents of the plants were examined. The agar well diffusion method was then used to determine the antibacterial activity of the leaves against reference strains (<i>Escherichia coli</i> ATCC 25922, <i>Salmonella typhi</i> ATCC 19430, <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> ATCC 27853 and <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> ATCC 25923, and a Methicillin-Resistant <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> strain) as well as the MDR clinical isolates (<i>E. coli</i>, <i>P. aeruginosa</i>, <i>S. aureus</i> and <i>CoNS</i>) from the wounds; Results: The preliminary phytochemical analysis of the leaves showed the presence of saponins, phenolics, and reducing sugars in almost all the plants tested. All plant extracts were observed to have some antimicrobial activity against at least one reference strain. For the clinical MDR isolates, <i>A. cordifolia</i> from this study showed highest inhibition to growth of all bacteria used. Activity of <i>J. flava</i> against <i>S. aureus</i> was highest as compared to that of <i>E.coli</i> and <i>P. aeruginosa</i>. Similar observation was made for <i>M. arboreus</i>, <i>P. guajava</i> and <i>M. charantia</i> where the highest activity was observed against <i>S. aureus</i>; Conclusion: This study has mainly shown that <i>P. guajava</i>, <i>M. arboreus</i>, <i>A. cordifolia</i>, <i>M. charantia</i>, and <i>J. flava</i> exhibits antimicrobial activities against MD-R bacterial pathogens isolated from post-operative wounds. Also, these plants has bioactive phytochemical compounds with potential medicinal values for the treatment of numerous infections. Therefore, these plants may be helpful in the management of acute and chronic wounds, especially in traditional medicine practices.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3271/9/2/23bacteriaherbalplantsMDRresistancesusceptibility
spellingShingle Enid Owusu
Martin Mensah Ahorlu
Emmanuel Afutu
Amos Akumwena
George Awuku Asare
Antimicrobial Activity of Selected Medicinal Plants from a Sub-Saharan African Country against Bacterial Pathogens from Post-Operative Wound Infections
Medical Sciences
bacteria
herbal
plants
MDR
resistance
susceptibility
title Antimicrobial Activity of Selected Medicinal Plants from a Sub-Saharan African Country against Bacterial Pathogens from Post-Operative Wound Infections
title_full Antimicrobial Activity of Selected Medicinal Plants from a Sub-Saharan African Country against Bacterial Pathogens from Post-Operative Wound Infections
title_fullStr Antimicrobial Activity of Selected Medicinal Plants from a Sub-Saharan African Country against Bacterial Pathogens from Post-Operative Wound Infections
title_full_unstemmed Antimicrobial Activity of Selected Medicinal Plants from a Sub-Saharan African Country against Bacterial Pathogens from Post-Operative Wound Infections
title_short Antimicrobial Activity of Selected Medicinal Plants from a Sub-Saharan African Country against Bacterial Pathogens from Post-Operative Wound Infections
title_sort antimicrobial activity of selected medicinal plants from a sub saharan african country against bacterial pathogens from post operative wound infections
topic bacteria
herbal
plants
MDR
resistance
susceptibility
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3271/9/2/23
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