Antibacterial Effects of Ethanolic Extracts of Plantago major leaves against Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from burn infections

Abstract

Background: Due to increased bacterial resistance to common antibiotics, the tendency towards using herbal extracts is increasing. Plantago major is widely used as herbal plants in traditional medicine. It was known to have a variety of therapeutic effects. Aim: The current study aimed to evaluate the antibacterial activity of ethanolic extract of P. major leaves against Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from burn infections. Materials and Methods: One hundred and twenty of P. aeruginosa were collected from hospitalized patients in Burn hospital in Duhok city. The isolates were identified by routine methods. P. major leaves antibacterial activity were performed by using ethanolic extract in serial dilutions with the concentrations of (100, 75, 50, 25, and 10 %) by agar well diffusion assay, also antibiotics susceptibility test were done by the disc diffusion method using Muller-Hinton agar medium. Results: Different concentrations of ethanolic extract of P. major leaves exhibited different inhibition zone against P. aeruginosa. The potency of ethanolic extract of P. major leaves on P. aeruginosa ranging from [10.1-22.6] mm diameter zone of inhibition. The zone of inhibition was increase with increasing concentration of extract; the concentration [100 %] of ethanolic extract had the highest inhibitory effect about [22.6 mm] inhibition zone for P. aeruginosa. Also the bacterium showed highly resistance against the used antibiotics. Conclusion: The results of this study show that the replacement of chemical drugs with herbal extract could be effective in the elimination of bacterial growth. Key Words: Burn, Ethanol, Plantago major, Pseudomonas aeruginosa