Abstract
Microbial etiology of diarrhea is a significant cause of death, especially in children in developing countries. The presence of microbes that are resistant to current treatment options for diarrhea suggests the need to find newer antimicrobial agents for treatment. Therefore, this study focused on investigating the antimicrobial effect of some Ghanaian chewing sticks commonly used for oral hygiene, Azadirachta indica, Garcinia afzelii, and Garcinia kola, against selected diarrhea-causing organisms. From the stem and bark of each plant, 70% methanolic extract was experimented on Salmonella and Shigella species, namely, Shigella sonnei, Shigella flexeneri, Salmonella typhinirium enterica, Salmonella typhi attenuated, and Klebsiella oxytoca for microbial susceptibility using the agar well diffusion method. Additionally, the antioxidant profile of the methanolic extracts were investigated using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical, 2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic) acid (ABTS) scavenging activities, and ferric-reducing antioxidant potential (FRAP) assays, while the total polyphenolic content was determined using the Folin–Ciocalteau reagent. G. afzelii and A. indica stem demonstrated the highest antimicrobial effect, inhibiting the growth of all test organisms. Additionally, the extracts demonstrated high antioxidant potential and were found to possess significant amounts of phenolic compounds. Therefore, methanolic extracts of G. afzelii and A. indica stem are promising candidates for the identification of safe novel compounds to mitigate diarrheal diseases.
Highlights
Diarrheal disease is a significant global health problem that occurs in approximately 1.7 billion children yearly and is responsible for the death of around 525,000 children annually
Analysis of zones of inhibition indicated that the microorganisms examined were susceptible to G. afzelii and G. indica stem, whereas none of the microorganisms examined except for S. sonnei was susceptible to G. kola stem
G. kola and A. indica barks displayed no antimicrobial activity against S. typhimurium enterica
Summary
Diarrheal disease is a significant global health problem that occurs in approximately 1.7 billion children yearly and is responsible for the death of around 525,000 children annually. Diarrheal disease is a medical emergency; oral rehydration therapy, reduction in gut motility using antispasmodic drugs, and the use of antisecretory agents and drugs that inhibit secretion of prostaglandins, as well as antibiotic therapy, have proven to be very useful clinical interventions [5]. A high prevalence of resistant strains of diarrheal pathogens has been observed in many developing countries where there is little restriction on the use of antibiotics and where the incidence of diarrhea-associated death in childhood is high [8, 9]. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine there is a need for the identification of newer therapeutic agents with fewer side effects and increased potency
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