Abstract
Origanum vulgare has been of great interest in academia and pharma industry due to its antioxidant, antifungal and antitumor properties. The present study aimed to find the anti-MRSA potential and in vivo toxicity assessments of O. vulgare. O. vulgare extract was used to monitor anti-MRSA activity in mice. Following MRSA established infection in mice (Mus musculus), treatment with O. vulgare was continued for 7 days. Autopsies were performed and re-isolation, gross lesion scoring and bacterial load in various organs were measured. Additionally, blood sample was analysed for hematological assays. Toxicity assessment of O. vulgare potential as medicine was done at 200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg by evaluating liver and kidney functions. Bacterial load and gross lesion in lungs and heart were significantly low compared to positive control following O. vulgare treatment. Likewise, O. vulgare treated groups had hematological, neutrophil and TLC values similar to control groups. Increased AST, ALP and total bilirubin alongwith marked hepatocellular degeneration and distortion around the central vein, inflammatory cell infiltration, and cytoplasmic vacuolization of hepatic cells was observed at higher dose. It is concluded that crude extract of O. vulgare may contain beneficial secondary metabolites and in future may be explored for curing infectious diseases.
Highlights
Nowadays, the vegetative parts and biochemical extracts of many plants including Origanum vulgare are in use in the food and spice industries
It is concluded that crude extract of O. vulgare may contain beneficial secondary metabolites and in future may be explored for curing infectious diseases
Possible antibacterial activity of O. vulgare extract might be due to active constituents that interference with the pH gradient and membrane permeability of bacteria as suggested by Lambert et al (2001)
Summary
The vegetative parts and biochemical extracts of many plants including Origanum vulgare are in use in the food and spice industries. O. vulgare is an aromatic plant distributed throughout Asia including Pakistan for cure of respiratory diseases, hypoglycemic disease, and leukemia. It exhibits multiple biological activities such as insecticides, expectorant, antimicrobial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant. The majority of its components include rosmarinic acid, eriocitrin, luteolin‐7‐oglucoside, apigenin-7-O-glucoside, origanol A and B, and ursolic acid (Shokrzadeh et al, 2014). There are other reports showing that components including ursolic acid and rosmarinic acid of the aqueous oregano extract exhibit potent antioxidant activities by scavenging free radicals (Baranauskaite et al, 2017)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
