Abstract
Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) produces two types of enterotoxins: heat-labile (LT) and heat-stable (STa and STb). These molecules are involved in the induction of secretory diarrhea in animals including humans. This condition is currently treated using a fluid replacement therapy and antibiotics. This treatment is often not available to people in developing countries, and several die from the condition provoke by ETEC. Over the years, plants and plant extracts have been use as traditional medicine to treat various gastrointestinal ailments including diarrhea. Many of these plant products have been claimed to be active against diarrhea, however few have been extensively studied. The main objective of this review was to gather the scattered information on the antidiarrheal activities reported for various plant products on ETEC. This includes two major effects: (1) The inhibitory effect on bacterial growth or viability and (2) The interference with ETEC enterotoxins activity upon the intestinal epithelium. We will focus on plant products and extracts for which we have major indications of their biological activity against ETEC and their enterotoxins. Because Vibrio cholerae toxin (CT) is structurally, antigenically and mechanistically related to LT, it will also be discussed in this review.
Highlights
Plants and their products have been used by humans for treatments of numerous diseases for thousands of years
K88 Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) bacteria were found to interact with soya bean extracts and this could be responsible for the observed decrease of ETEC adhesion to pig and human intestinal epithelial cells in vitro
The results suggested that tight junctions (TJ)-14 and TJ-60 likely act through the production of nitric oxide (NO)
Summary
Plants and their products have been used by humans for treatments of numerous diseases for thousands of years. The interest in the study of medicinal plants as a source of pharmacologically active compounds has increased worldwide. It is estimated that the world is losing one major drug from these plants every two years [5] More of these compounds should be rapidly subjected to animal and human studies to determine their effectiveness in whole-organism systems, before they are lost. Natural products derived from medicinal plants have proven to be an abundant source of biologically active compounds, many of which have been the basis for development of new lead chemicals for pharmaceutical companies. The large number of pharmacologically active compounds in plant medicines increases the likelihood of interactions taking place. These aspects have to be rigorously evaluated before a plant or a plant extract is declared safe and use on a large scale as therapeutic or prophylactic remedy
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