In vitro Antibacterial Activity of n-Hexane Fraction of Methanolic Extract of Alstonia scholaris L. R.Br. Stem Bark against Some Multidrug Resistant Human Pathogenic Bacteria

Abstract

Plants are a source of wide range of bioactive molecules. Alstonia scholaris, a tree species of Apocynaceae family is being reported as a well known herbal remedy of various diseases. In the present investigation, n-hexane fraction of crude methanolic extract of Alstonia scholaris Linn. R.Br. stem bark was evaluated for antibacterial activity using four human pathogenic multi-drug resistance bacterial strains Enterobacteriaceae bacterium IK1_01, Shigella dysentery, Enterobacter cloacae and Serratia marcescens. Antibiotic susceptibility tests were also performed to evaluate the multi-drug resistance patterns of these strains. All the strains showed multi-drug resistance against several commercially available antibiotics. The n-hexane fraction showed significant inhibitory activities against all the strains by agar-diffusion assay. The n-hexane fraction of crude methanolic extract of stem of A. scholaris showed MICs of 5.5 mg/ml, 5 mg/ml, <5.5 mg/ml and 8 mg/ml, and induced a maximum of 85.7%, 95.6%, 89.3% and 94.4% growth inhibition against E. bacterium IK1_01, S. dysentery, E. cloacae and S. marcescens, respectively.

Study of Total Phenolic and Flavonoid Content, Antioxidant Activity and Antimicrobial Properties of Medicinal Plants

“…Polyalthia longifolia leaf (76.84%) showed strong inhibition of DPPH radical followed by the leaf extract of Cassia fistula with 75.78% inhibition and Ocimum sanctum leaf (74.73%), while others exhibited the DPPH radical scavenging capacity ranging from 35-65% in ethanolic solvent. The high scavenging activity of Polyalthia longifolia is also being supported by the work of Mukherjee et al [27]. When total anthocyanin content was estimated, the highest was found to be in Polyalthia longifolia (0.65mg/l) and minimum in Citrus aurantifolia (0.04mg/l) ( Table 2).…”

Ethnobotanical survey of Purulia district, West Bengal, India for medicinal plants used against gastrointestinal disorders

“…Paste, decoction, infusion and juice were usually prepared from the freshly harvested plant parts whereas the powder was kept in dry form for longer period of time for future use. Interestingly, the medicine prepared from the plant reproductive parts (flowers, fruits, seeds) were prepared during the particular flowering and/or fruiting season and stored (Shukla et al, 2010) Anti-enteric bacterial (Sukanya et al, 2009) Aegle marmelos Decoction Oral Diarrhea ); dysentery, indigestion, typhoid (Sen et al, 2011) Anti-diarrheal (Shoba and Thomas, 2001;Mazumder et al, 2006;Brijesh et al, 2009); hepatoprotective (Khan and Sultana, 2011) Alangium salviifolium Paste Oral Diarrhea (Wagh et al, 2011), dysentery (Sen and Behera, 2008) Anti-enteric bacterial (Pandian et al, 2006) Alstonia scholaris Decoction Oral Stomachic (Sen et al, 2011); dysentery (Dey, 2011) Anti-enteric bacterial (Mukherjee et al, 2012); hepatoprotective (Lin et al, 1996); antidiarrheal, anti-spasmodic (Shah et al, 2010 (Lalfakzuala et al, 2007) Hepatoprotective (Ravi et al, 2010) Butea monosperma Powder Oral Diarrhea (Kala, 2009); dysentery (Sen et al, 2011) Hepatoprotective (Sharma and Shukla, 2011); anthelmintic (Iqbal et al, 2006); anti-diarrhoeal (Gunakkunru et al, 2005) …”

“…Plants have been screened for biocidal activity against a number of human pathogenic bacteria causing GDs (Rani and Khullar, 2004;Ahmad and Aqil, 2007;Mukherjee et al, 2012). Some of the botanicals have been tested pharmacologically for active principles to cure GDs (Kumar et al, 2001;Chitme et al, 2004;Gilani et al, 2008).…”

Phytotherapeutic practices of a folk medicinal practitioner in Dinajpur district, Bangladesh

“…The antidiarrheal action of H. antidysenterica has been shown in rats (Sharma et al, 2015). The bark of A. scholaris can reportedly inhibit some enteric pathogens and so can be useful in treating dysentery (Mukherjee et al, 2012). The barks of S. pinnata and S. cumini merit scientific research regarding their anti-dysentery actions, for although not studied scientifically, indigenous uses of the plants for treatment of diarrhea and dysentery has been reported (Bora et al, 2014;Ayyanar and Subash-Babu, 2012).…”