Ugochi Udensi Justina, Obinna Anyanwu Charles, Emeka Emedoh Andrew, Oluchi Anyanwu Emilia, Makeri Danladi, Theophilus Pius, Agwu Ezera
Department of Environmental Health Science, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria.
Department of Biotechnology, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria.
Sci Rep. 2025 Jan 2;15(1):217. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-84696-3.
Antimicrobial resistance poses a global public health threat, compelling the search for alternative treatments, especially in resource-limited settings. The increasing ineffectiveness of traditional antibiotics has intensified the need to explore medicinal plants as viable therapeutic options. This study sought to compare the efficacy of certain medicinal plants used in Owerri, Nigeria, for treating pathogenic bacteria against traditional commercial antibiotics. We tested graded concentrations (25 mg/ml, 50 mg/ml, 75 mg/ml, and 100 mg/ml) of ethanolic extracts of Awolowo leaf (Chromolaena odorata), Bitter leaf (Vernonia amygdalina), and Lemon grass leaf (Cymbopogon citratus) against Salmonella spp, Klebsiella spp, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus employing the agar well diffusion method to measure zones of inhibition. Commercial antibiotics studied included: Pefloxacin, Gentamycin, Ampiclox, Zinnacef, Amoxicillin, Rocephin, Ciprofloxacin, Streptomycin, Septrin and Erythromycin, Sparfloxacin Amoxicillin, Augmentin, and Tarivid. Each experiment was conducted in triplicate to ensure accuracy and reproducibility. Results were analyzed descriptively and presented as mean zones of inhibition and standard deviations. One to three plant species exhibited antibacterial activities (zones of inhibition) across 25-100 mg/ml concentrations. In contrast, some or all antibiotics only exhibited antibacterial activities at 100 mg/ml concentration (none at 25-75 mg/ml concentrations). Zones of inhibition (10.3-14.1 mm) of all three plant species against E.coli and Klebsiella at 100 mg/ml concentration were higher than those of 8-10 antibiotics. C. odorata had shown high zones of inhibition of 11.8 and 11.0 mm against Salmonella spp. and S. aureus at 100 mg/ml concentration, which were higher than those of eight antibiotics. The other two plant species (C. citratus and V. amygdalina) had exhibited low zones of inhibition against Salmonella spp. and S. aureus, which were higher than those of 3 or 4 antibiotics at 100 mg/ml concentration. In general, the antibacterial activities of the three plant species across 25-100 mg/ml concentrations were higher than those of many antibiotics. To a large extent, the efficacy of medicinal plant extracts across different concentrations against bacterial strains was higher than that of many antibiotics. Those plant species have therefore shown some potential to be used as alternative or complementary therapeutics to antibiotics in addressing antibiotic resistance. Since the promising findings were based on an in vitro study, we recommend clinical trials to establish safe and effective doses of those plant extracts in humans.
抗菌耐药性对全球公共卫生构成威胁，促使人们寻找替代治疗方法，尤其是在资源有限的环境中。传统抗生素有效性的不断降低，加剧了探索药用植物作为可行治疗选择的必要性。本研究旨在比较尼日利亚奥韦里用于治疗病原菌的某些药用植物与传统商业抗生素的疗效。我们采用琼脂孔扩散法测量抑菌圈，测试了奥沃洛叶（香丝草）、苦叶（扁桃斑鸠菊）和柠檬草叶（香茅）乙醇提取物的分级浓度（25毫克/毫升、50毫克/毫升、75毫克/毫升和100毫克/毫升）对沙门氏菌属、克雷伯氏菌属、大肠杆菌和金黄色葡萄球菌的抑菌效果。所研究的商业抗生素包括：培氟沙星、庆大霉素、氨苄氯唑西林、头孢呋辛、阿莫西林、头孢曲松、环丙沙星、链霉素、复方新诺明和红霉素、司帕沙星、阿莫西林、奥格门汀和他利维德。每个实验重复进行三次以确保准确性和可重复性。结果进行描述性分析，并以平均抑菌圈和标准差表示。在25 - 100毫克/毫升浓度范围内，一至三种植物物种表现出抗菌活性（抑菌圈）。相比之下，一些或所有抗生素仅在100毫克/毫升浓度时表现出抗菌活性（在25 - 75毫克/毫升浓度时均无活性）。在100毫克/毫升浓度下，所有三种植物物种对大肠杆菌和克雷伯氏菌的抑菌圈（10.3 - 14.1毫米）高于8 - 10种抗生素。在100毫克/毫升浓度下，香丝草对沙门氏菌属和金黄色葡萄球菌的抑菌圈分别为11.8毫米和11.0毫米，高于8种抗生素。另外两种植物物种（香茅和扁桃斑鸠菊）对沙门氏菌属和金黄色葡萄球菌的抑菌圈较低，但在100毫克/毫升浓度时高于3或4种抗生素。总体而言，在25 - 100毫克/毫升浓度范围内，这三种植物物种的抗菌活性高于许多抗生素。在很大程度上，不同浓度的药用植物提取物对细菌菌株的疗效高于许多抗生素。因此，这些植物物种在应对抗生素耐药性方面显示出一些作为抗生素替代或补充疗法的潜力。由于这些有前景的发现基于体外研究，我们建议进行临床试验以确定这些植物提取物在人体中的安全有效剂量。
