West African Plants and Related Phytocompounds with Anti‐Multidrug‐Resistance Activity

Abstract

Diseases due to multidrug resistant (MDR) bacteria have become a major health problem in developing as well as developed countries. Therapy of bacterial infections is a frequent problem due to the emergence of bacterial strains resistant to numerous antibiotics. In many west African countries, the prevalence of MDR bacteria is increasing despite the measures of control. This increase of MDR bacteria necessitates the search for new effective alternatives to replace antibacterial agents currently in use. In this instance, the plant kingdom is undoubtedly a valuable source for new antibiotics. Herbal medicine has been shown to have a genuine utility and rural population depens on it as primary health care. About 80% of the population in West Africa still use traditional medicine for treating diseases, both microbial and non-microbial origins. Ethnobotanical studies on west African medicinal plants has reasonably been done resulting into a collection of information which show that African medicinal plants could be source of leads compounds. A wide range of those medicinal plants have been studied for antibacterial activity against various bacteria, but few have included MDR bacteria. This chapter provides an overview of the West African plants and related phytocompounds with anti-MDR activity. An attempt has been made to summarize the information in order to highlight those promising medicinal plant in the treatment of diseases caused by multidrug resistant bacteria. The most promising are Erythrina senegalensis, Erythrina vogelii, Terminalia avicennioides, Momordica balsamina, Combretum paniculatum, Morinda lucida, Ocimum gratissimum and Trema guineensis. These plant species show a strong anti-MDR activity on MRSA, vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE), Escherichia coli ESBL, Klebsiella pneumoniae ESBL and MDR-Salmonella typhi strains. The phytochemicals responsible for this activity are flavonoids, isoflavonoids, naphtoquinones, alkaloids, sesquiterpenoids, phenolic compounds and xanthones. Precise active principles, such as isowighteone, vogelin B and vogelin Cwith anti-MDR activity, have been isolated from Erythrina vogelii. The importance of MDR bacteria makes these data of special interest since many medicinal plants are used in traditional medicinal in places of West Africa where medical services are not in position to provide health care.New Strategies Combating Bacterial Infection. Edited by Iqbal Ahmad and Farrukh Aqil