Antibacterial and cytotoxic activity of Brazilian plant extracts - Clusiaceae

Abstract

Twelve extracts obtained from nine plants belonging to six different genera of Clusiaceae were analyzed against Gram-negative (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis) bacteria using the microdilution broth assay. Tovomita aff. longifolia, T. brasiliensis, Clusia columnaris, Garcinia madruno, Haploclathra paniculata, and Caraipa grandifolia extracts showed significant results against the bacteria. The organic extract obtained from the leaves of T. aff. longifolia showed minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) = 70 µg/ml and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) = 90 µg/ml against E. faecalis and the organic extract made with the stem of C. columnaris showed MIC = 180 µg/ml and MBC = 270 µg/ml against P. aeruginosa. None of the antibacterial extracts showed lethal activity against brine shrimp nauplii. On the other hand, both aqueous and organic extracts obtained from the aerial organs of Vismia guianensis that were cytotoxic to brine shrimp nauplii did not show a significant antibacterial activity in the assay.Key words: antibacterial -cytotoxicity -Clusiaceae -Amazon rain forest -Brazil Natural products are considered an important source of new antibacterial agents. Drugs derived from unmodified natural products or drugs semi-synthetically obtained from natural sources corresponded to 78% of the new drugs approved by the FDA between 1983 and 1994(Cragg et al. 1997). This evidence contributes to support and quantify the importance of screening natural products. Previous screening works were done with more than 700 Amazon rain forest plant extracts, and results can be seen elsewhere (Frana & Suffredini 2002, Suffredini et al. 2002a, b 2004, Nepomuceno et al. 2003.Less than 20% of the Angiospermae have been screened for biological activity, and taking the Brazilian rain forests in concern, not much has been done so far. Brazil is home to more than 20% of the world's biodiversity, and the Amazon rain forest concentrates 17% of the biodiversity found within the country (Wilson & Peter 1988). For this reason, our research team has been systematically studying the antibacterial activity of organic and aqueous plant extracts obtained from plants native to the rain forest against Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213 (Sau) and Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212 (Efae) and Gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853 (Psa) and Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 (Ecol) with the aim of discovering new natural product compounds that can be used as antibiotics. Twelve aqueous and organic extracts obtained from plants belonging to six different genera of Clusiaceae (Vismia, Garcinia, Haploclathra, Tovomita, Caraipa, and Clusia) were submitted to the determination of the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) using the microdilution broth assay (Suffredini et al. 2004). The extracts were also tested against brine shrimp nauplii in order to evaluate their potential as cytotoxic agents and to determine if ...

Antimicrobial potentiality of Polyalthia longifolia seed oil against multi drug resistant (MDR) strains of bacteria and fungus of clinical origin

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In Vitro Antibacterial Effects of Chloroform, Methanol and Water Extracts of Croton Macrostachyus Stem Bark Against Escherichia Coli and Staphylococcus Aureus Standard and Clinical Strains

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The mutagenic potential of Clusia alata (Clusiaceae) extract based on two short-term in vivo assays

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