McGaw L J, Gehring R, Katsoulis L, Eloff J N
Programme for Phytomedicine, Department of Paraclinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort, 0110, South Africa.
Onderstepoort J Vet Res. 2005 Jun;72(2):129-34.
Rhizome extracts of Gunnera perpensa are used in traditional remedies in South Africa to treat endometritis both in humans and animals. An investigation was undertaken to determine whether this plant possesses antibacterial activity, which may explain its efficacy. Gunnera perpensa rhizome extracts were prepared serially with solvents of increasing polarity and tested for antibacterial activity. Test bacteria included the Gram-positive Enterococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus aureus and the Gram-negative Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. A moderate to weak level of antibacterial activity in most of the extracts resulted, with the best minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) value of 2.61 mg ml(-1) shown by the acetone extract against S. aureus. The extracts were also submitted to the brine shrimp assay to detect possible toxic or pharmacological effects. All the extracts were lethal to the brine shrimp larvae at a concentration of 5 mg ml(-1). The acetone extract was extremely toxic at 1 mg ml(-1), with some toxicity evident at 0.1 mg ml(-1). The remainder of the extracts generally displayed little activity at concentrations lower than 5 mg ml(-1). In summary, the results indicate that although the extracts demonstrated a level of pharmacological activity, the relatively weak antibacterial activity is unlikely to justify the use of G. perpensa rhizomes in the traditional treatment of endometritis. Rather, the slightly antibacterial nature of the rhizomes may contribute to an additive effect, along with their known uterotonic activity, to the overall efficacy of the preparation.
南非的传统疗法中使用垂花根乃拉草的根茎提取物来治疗人和动物的子宫内膜炎。开展了一项调查以确定这种植物是否具有抗菌活性，这可能解释其疗效。用极性递增的溶剂依次制备垂花根乃拉草的根茎提取物，并测试其抗菌活性。测试细菌包括革兰氏阳性的粪肠球菌和金黄色葡萄球菌以及革兰氏阴性的大肠杆菌和铜绿假单胞菌。大多数提取物产生了中度至弱水平的抗菌活性，丙酮提取物对金黄色葡萄球菌显示出最佳的最低抑菌浓度（MIC）值，为2.61毫克/毫升。提取物还进行了卤虫测定，以检测可能的毒性或药理作用。所有提取物在浓度为5毫克/毫升时对卤虫幼虫均具有致死性。丙酮提取物在1毫克/毫升时具有极高的毒性，在0.1毫克/毫升时也有一些明显的毒性。其余提取物在浓度低于5毫克/毫升时通常显示出很少的活性。总之，结果表明，虽然提取物表现出一定程度的药理活性，但相对较弱的抗菌活性不太可能证明在传统的子宫内膜炎治疗中使用垂花根乃拉草的根茎是合理的。相反，根茎的轻微抗菌性质可能与它们已知的子宫收缩活性一起，对制剂的总体疗效产生累加效应。
