Antimicrobial activity of Nigerian medicinal plants

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is currently one of the major threats facing mankind. The emergence and rapid spread of multi- and pan-drug-resistant organisms (such as vancomycin-, methicillin-, extended-spectrum β-lactam-, carbapenem- and colistin-resistant organisms) has put the world in a dilemma. The health and economic burden associated with AMR on a global scale are dreadful. Available antimicrobials have been misused and are almost ineffective with some of these drugs associated with dangerous side effects in some individuals. Development of new, effective, and safe antimicrobials is one of the ways by which AMR burden can be reduced. The rate at which microorganisms develop AMR mechanisms outpaces the rate at which new antimicrobials are being developed. Medicinal plants are potential sources of new antimicrobial molecules. There is renewed interest in antimicrobial activities of phytochemicals. Nigeria boasts of a huge heritage of medicinal plants and there is avalanche of researches that have been undertaken to screen antimicrobial activities of these plants. Scientific compilation of these studies could provide useful information on the antimicrobial properties of the plants. This information can be useful in the development of new antimicrobial drugs. This paper reviews antimicrobial researches that have been undertaken on Nigerian medicinal plants.

Efficacy and Mechanism of Traditional Medicinal Plants and Bioactive Compounds against Clinically Important Pathogens

“…Numerous studies have considered the antimicrobial screening of traditional plant extracts. The studies of medicinal plants from diverse topographical areas include: Armenia [65], Iran [66], Mexico [67], Saudi Arabia [68], Libya [26], Ethiopia [64], India [63], Poland [69], Cameroon [70], Nigeria [71], and other Middle Eastern countries [72]. Based on the available information, the traditional plant extracts showed antimicrobial activity against a huge number of pathogenic bacteria, fungi, viruses, algae, protozoan, and Trypanosoma [26,63,64,66].…”

Chemical Composition and Hepatoprotective Activity of Saponaria officinalis on Paracetamol-Induced Liver Toxicity in Rats

“…[28][29][30][31] As mentioned in introduction, S. officinalis one of the traditional medicinal plant with less scientific literature, so the present work carried out on S. officinalis root part for their phytochemical analysis using different extracts and evaluation of hepatoprotective activity. Several studies have been reporting on pharmacological and biological activities of medicinal plants like anti-microbial, [32][33] antioxidant and hepatoprotective, [34][35][36][37] antiinflammatory, 38 and cytotoxicity etc.…”

Avaliação Da Atividade Antimicrobiana Da Fração Metanólica De Buchenavia Tetraphylla Contra Isolados Clínicos De Escherichiacoli

“…Popularmente essa planta é utilizada como expectorante, antitussígeno, contra diarreia, má digestão e como tônico contra fraqueza (Agra et al, 2007). Poucos trabalhos foram publicados com o gênero Buchenavia, entretanto, pesquisas com B. tomentosa e B. tetraphylla mostraram atividade antimicrobiana promovida pelos extratos e frações dessa planta contra bactérias Gram-negativas, Gram-positivas e fungos (Cavalcanti, et al, 2017). Ao longo dos últimos anos cresceu o interesse sobre compostos obtidos de plantas sobretudo aqueles que são ativos contra bactérias gram-negativas e gram-positivas multirresistentes, devido a sua diversidade molecular (Anyanwu;Okoye, 2017).…”

“…Poucos trabalhos foram publicados com o gênero Buchenavia, entretanto, pesquisas com B. tomentosa e B. tetraphylla mostraram atividade antimicrobiana promovida pelos extratos e frações dessa planta contra bactérias Gram-negativas, Gram-positivas e fungos (Cavalcanti, et al, 2017). Ao longo dos últimos anos cresceu o interesse sobre compostos obtidos de plantas sobretudo aqueles que são ativos contra bactérias gram-negativas e gram-positivas multirresistentes, devido a sua diversidade molecular (Anyanwu;Okoye, 2017). Diversas pesquisas têm sido realizadas com o objetivo de comprovar e determinar a ampla variedade das atividades antimicrobianas de compostos bioativos isolados de plantas ou de extratos vegetais onde esses metabólitos podem apresentar efeito sinérgico (Slobodníková et al, 2016).…”