Abstract
The north-eastern region of Brazil is home to communities of diverse ethnic origins that still depend significantly on folk medicine, with emphasis on plant extracts. The present work aims at investigating medicinal plants used in the traditional medicine of north-eastern Brazil with an assessment of the antimicrobial profile of their extracts. The antimicrobial activity of 12 extracts from 11 plant species from eight higher plant families traditionally used was evaluated against three human pathogens (Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Streptococcus pneumoniae) using the Agar Disk Diffusion and Broth Microdilution assays. The cytotoxic effects were evaluated on human keratinocytes. A hydroalcoholic extract from Anadenanthera colubrina presented the most promising in vitro antimicrobial activity against S.aureus associated with low cytotoxicity towards human keratinocytes. The information gathered in the present study represents a starting point for further research aiming at providing scientific evidence to the empirical usage of medicinal plants in traditional practices.
Highlights
Traditional Medicine (TM), known as non-conventional or complementary medicine, is used all over the world, and is sometimes the primary, if not the only, source of delivered healthcare [34]
It has been estimated that up to 30% of currently available therapeutic medications are derived from natural sources, mostly from plants or microorganisms, and many classes of active principles have been isolated from Brazilian medicinal plants [10]
We evaluated the antimicrobial activity of 12 north-eastern plants extracts on some important human pathogens, namely Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Streptococcus pneumoniae, and evaluated their cytotoxic effects on human keratinocytes, in an attempt to rationalize their traditional use, and possibly reveal potentially useful anti-infective properties
Summary
Traditional Medicine (TM), known as non-conventional or complementary medicine, is used all over the world, and is sometimes the primary, if not the only, source of delivered healthcare [34]. Thanks to its unique geographical and climatic conditions, this region has an unparalleled environment that harbors a ample variety of ecosystems and habitats [1] This has contributed to the natural selection of a large variety of plants capable of surviving under high-stress conditions, thanks to their. It has been estimated that up to 30% of currently available therapeutic medications are derived from natural sources, mostly from plants or microorganisms, and many classes of active principles have been isolated from Brazilian medicinal plants [10]. These natural compounds can be considered as evolutionarily optimized drug-like molecules. A medicinal plant is, by definition, any plant that contains, in any of its parts, active substances that can be used in the treatment or prevention of diseases [29], as for example, digoxin from foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), morphine from poppy (Papaver somniferum), aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) from willow bark (Salix alba) [25]
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