The increase of multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MDR-TB) demands the search for alternative antimycobacterial drugs. The aim of this study was to evaluate plants used in Mexican traditional medicine to treat respiratory diseases for activity against MDR-TB. A group of 22 plants was screened for activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv and Mycobacterium avium at concentrations from 50 to 200 microg/mL. The antimycobacterial effect was determined by a microcolorimetric assay with Alamar blue dye. None of the aqueous extracts had antimycobacterial activity. Hexane extracts from Artemisia ludoviciana, Chamaedora tepejilote, Lantana hispida, Juniperus communis and Malva parviflora, and methanol extracts from Artemisia ludoviciana and Juniperus communis inhibited the growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Mycobacterium avium was inhibited by Juniperus communis hexane extract and by Malva parviflora methanol extract. The active extracts were tested against monoresistant variants of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv (isoniazid, rifampin, streptomycin and ethambutol resistant) and the hexane extract of Lantana hispida showed the best activity. Lantana hispida hexane extract was also active against a group of MDR-TB clinical isolates. In contrast, it did not inhibit the growth of non-tuberculous mycobacteria. The hexane extract of Lantana hispida was fractionated by column chromatography and one of its fractions (FVI) inhibited the growth of all the MDR-TB clinical isolates at concentrations up to 25 microg/mL. This study supports the fact that selecting plants by ethnobotanical criteria enhances the probability of finding species with activity against mycobacteria, and our results point to Lantana hispida as an important source of potential compounds against MDR-TB.

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