Nweze Emeka I, Eze Elizabeth E
Department of Microbiology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria.
BMC Complement Altern Med. 2009 Sep 28;9:37. doi: 10.1186/1472-6882-9-37.
The ethanolic extract of the leaves of Ocimium gratisimum L. (Lamiaceae), used in traditional medicine for the treatment of several ailments such as urinary tract, wound, skin and gastrointestinal infections, was evaluated for its antibacterial properties against four clinical bacteria isolates namely: Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and the antifungal properties using a clinical isolate of Candida albicans. A typed bacterium of Escherichia coli ATCC 11775 and another typed fungal strain of Candida albicans (ATCC 90028) were also included. The study also intended to verify if the concomitant administration of conventional antibiotics with Ocimium gratisimum which is normally taken as food (spice) will negatively affect its activity.
The agar diffusion method was used to test the in vitro activity of the plant extract. The interaction of the plant extract with some disc antibiotics namely: ciprofloxacin, septrin, streptomycin, ampicillin, nystatin and ketoconazole was tested using the agar overlay inoculum susceptibility disc method. Phytochemical analysis of the extract was performed following established methods.
The extract showed good but varying in vitro activities against all the isolates tested. While ampicillin showed synergistic interaction with the plant extract against clinical isolates of E. coli and P. mirabilis, septrin was synergistic against the clinical isolate of E. coli only. Similarly, the activity of the extract against C. albicans isolate was synergistic with ketoconazole and nystatin.
The study has validated the folkloric use of O. gratissimum in traditional medicinal practice and goes further to show that the use of this plant material as food spice may not really threaten the efficacy of some conventional antibiotics that may have been taken concomitantly with it as is the popular belief in the practice of herbal medicine in local/rural communities of many countries in the world.
罗勒叶（唇形科）的乙醇提取物在传统医学中用于治疗多种疾病，如尿路感染、伤口、皮肤和胃肠道感染。本研究评估了其对四种临床分离细菌（即大肠杆菌、奇异变形杆菌、金黄色葡萄球菌和铜绿假单胞菌）的抗菌特性，以及对白色念珠菌临床分离株的抗真菌特性。还包括大肠杆菌ATCC 11775标准菌株和白色念珠菌（ATCC 90028）另一标准真菌菌株。该研究还旨在验证罗勒叶通常作为食物（香料）与传统抗生素同时服用是否会对其活性产生负面影响。
采用琼脂扩散法测试植物提取物的体外活性。使用琼脂覆盖接种物药敏纸片法测试植物提取物与一些纸片抗生素（即环丙沙星、复方新诺明、链霉素、氨苄青霉素、制霉菌素和酮康唑）的相互作用。按照既定方法对提取物进行植物化学分析。
提取物对所有测试分离株均显示出良好但不同的体外活性。氨苄青霉素与植物提取物对大肠杆菌和奇异变形杆菌临床分离株表现出协同相互作用，而复方新诺明仅与大肠杆菌临床分离株表现出协同作用。同样，提取物对白色念珠菌分离株的活性与酮康唑和制霉菌素具有协同作用。
该研究证实了罗勒叶在传统医学实践中的民间用途，并进一步表明，正如世界上许多国家当地/农村社区草药实践中的普遍看法那样——将这种植物材料用作食物香料可能并不会真正威胁到与之同时服用的某些传统抗生素的疗效。
