School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington 6140, New Zealand.
BMC Complement Altern Med. 2010 Jun 10;10:25. doi: 10.1186/1472-6882-10-25.
Plants have long been investigated as a source of antibiotics and other bioactives for the treatment of human disease. New Zealand contains a diverse and unique flora, however, few of its endemic plants have been used to treat tuberculosis. One plant, Laurelia novae-zelandiae, was reportedly used by indigenous Maori for the treatment of tubercular lesions.
Laurelia novae-zelandiae and 44 other native plants were tested for direct anti-bacterial activity. Plants were extracted with different solvents and extracts screened for inhibition of the surrogate species, Mycobacterium smegmatis. Active plant samples were then tested for bacteriostatic activity towards M. tuberculosis and other clinically-important species.
Extracts of six native plants were active against M. smegmatis. Many of these were also inhibitory towards M. tuberculosis including Laurelia novae-zelandiae (Pukatea). M. excelsa (Pohutukawa) was the only plant extract tested that was active against Staphylococcus aureus.
Our data provide support for the traditional use of Pukatea in treating tuberculosis. In addition, our analyses indicate that other native plant species possess antibiotic activity.
植物一直被作为抗生素和其他生物活性物质的来源，用于治疗人类疾病。新西兰拥有丰富而独特的植物群，但很少有其特有植物被用于治疗肺结核。一种名为 Laurelia novae-zelandiae 的植物，据报道被当地的毛利人用于治疗肺结核病变。
对 Laurelia novae-zelandiae 和其他 44 种本地植物进行了直接抗细菌活性测试。用不同溶剂提取植物，并筛选提取物对替代物种耻垢分枝杆菌的抑制作用。然后对有活性的植物样本进行结核分枝杆菌和其他临床重要物种的抑菌活性测试。
六种本地植物的提取物对耻垢分枝杆菌具有活性。其中许多提取物对结核分枝杆菌也具有抑制作用，包括 Laurelia novae-zelandiae（普卡泰）。经测试，只有 Pohutukawa（银蕨）的植物提取物对金黄色葡萄球菌具有活性。
我们的数据为普卡泰治疗肺结核的传统用途提供了支持。此外，我们的分析表明，其他本地植物物种具有抗生素活性。
