Andleeb Saiqa, Ejaz Mubashir, Awan Uzma Azeem, Ali Shaukat, Kiyani Ayesha, Shafique Irsa, Zafar Atiya
Microbial Biotechnology laboratory, Department of Zoology, University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Muzaffarabad, Pakistan.
Pak J Pharm Sci. 2016 May;29(3):969-77.
Earthworms are macro invertebrate and have been widely used as therapeutic drugs for thousands of years. In the current research, experiments viz., the antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant activity of mucus and solvent extracts of Eisenia foetida were conducted to investigate for the first time in Pakistan against human infectious pathogens. Antimicrobial activity of E. foetida against human pathogens underwent investigation through an agar disc diffusion method while an ABTS(•+) free radical scavenging method assessed the antioxidant activity. The percentage of bacterial and fungal growth was analyzed statistically with One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Results showed that the mucus IV of E. foetida produced a strong potent antibacterial and antifungal activity. Pseudomonas aeruginosa exhibited the highest inhibition zone (33.67±1.53 mm), followed by Klebsiella pneumonia (30.33±1.53mm), Penicillium notatum (30±0.051), Escherichia coli (29±1 mm), Candida albicans (28.33±0.54 mm), Staphylococcus aureus (27±1mm), Serratia marcescens (25.33±0.58 mm), Aspergillus flavus (25.33±0.58 mm), Staphylococcus epidermidis (24.33±0.58 mm), Streptococcus pyogenes (21.67±1.53 mm), and Aspergillus niger (20.67±0.53 mm). Mucus IV of E. foetida also showed the highest antioxidant activity (99%). The results clearly indicate that the mucus and solvent extracts contain effective antimicrobial properties and bioactive compounds to inhibit the growth of infectious pathogens. We conclude that mucus extracts of earthworm have significant level of antimicrobial and antioxidant activities and in future could be potentially used against various infectious pathogens.
蚯蚓是大型无脊椎动物，数千年来一直被广泛用作治疗药物。在当前的研究中，首次在巴基斯坦针对人类感染性病原体开展了有关赤子爱胜蚓黏液和溶剂提取物的抗菌、抗真菌及抗氧化活性的实验。通过琼脂平板扩散法研究了赤子爱胜蚓对人类病原体的抗菌活性，同时采用ABTS(•+)自由基清除法评估其抗氧化活性。采用单因素方差分析(ANOVA)对细菌和真菌生长的百分比进行统计学分析。结果表明，赤子爱胜蚓的黏液IV具有很强的抗菌和抗真菌活性。铜绿假单胞菌的抑菌圈最大(33.67±1.53毫米)，其次是肺炎克雷伯菌(30.33±1.53毫米)、青霉(30±0.051)、大肠杆菌(29±1毫米)、白色念珠菌(28.33±0.54毫米)、金黄色葡萄球菌(27±1毫米)、粘质沙雷氏菌(25.33±0.58毫米)、黄曲霉(25.33±0.58毫米)、表皮葡萄球菌(24.33±0.58毫米)、化脓性链球菌(21.67±1.53毫米)和黑曲霉(20.67±0.53毫米)。赤子爱胜蚓的黏液IV还表现出最高的抗氧化活性(99%)。结果清楚地表明，黏液和溶剂提取物含有有效的抗菌特性和生物活性化合物，可抑制感染性病原体的生长。我们得出结论，蚯蚓的黏液提取物具有显著的抗菌和抗氧化活性，未来可能潜在地用于对抗各种感染性病原体。
