Department of Medicine, Saint John Regional Hospital, Canada.
Can J Microbiol. 2010 Jun;56(6):487-94. doi: 10.1139/w10-035.
Multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains have rapidly become a global health concern. North American First Nations communities have used traditional medicines for generations to treat many pulmonary infections. In this study, we evaluated the antimycobacterial activity of 5 medicinal plants traditionally used as general therapeutics for pulmonary illnesses and specifically as treatments for tuberculosis. Aqueous extracts of Aralia nudicaulis, Symplocarpus foetidus, Heracleum maximum, Juniperus communis, and Acorus calamus were screened for antimycobacterial activity against Bacillus Calmette-Guérin, Mycobacterium avium, and M. tuberculosis H37Ra using the colorimetric microplate resazurin assay. Extracts of Acorus calamus and H. maximum root demonstrated significant antimycobacterial activity comparable to that of the rifampin control (2 microg/mL). Evaluation of the cytotoxicity of these 2 extracts using the MTT assay also showed that the extracts were less toxic to 3 human cell lines than was the DMSO positive control. This study demonstrates that aqueous extracts of the roots of H. maximum and Acorus calamus possess strong in vitro antimycobacterial activity, validates traditional knowledge, and provides potential for the development of urgently needed novel antituberculous therapeutics.
耐多药结核分枝杆菌菌株迅速成为全球关注的健康问题。北美原住民社区世代以来一直使用传统药物来治疗许多肺部感染。在这项研究中，我们评估了 5 种传统上用作肺部疾病一般治疗方法的药用植物的抗分枝杆菌活性，特别是作为结核病的治疗方法。使用比色微孔板 Resazurin 测定法，筛选北美鹅掌楸、臭菘、大花长春藤、杜松和菖蒲的水提物对卡介苗、鸟分枝杆菌和结核分枝杆菌 H37Ra 的抗分枝杆菌活性。菖蒲和大花长春藤根的提取物表现出与利福平对照（2μg/mL）相当的显著抗分枝杆菌活性。使用 MTT 测定法评估这 2 种提取物的细胞毒性也表明，与 DMSO 阳性对照相比，这些提取物对 3 个人类细胞系的毒性较小。这项研究表明，大花长春藤和菖蒲根的水提物具有很强的体外抗分枝杆菌活性，验证了传统知识，并为急需的新型抗结核治疗药物的开发提供了潜力。
