Abstract
BackgroundMyrtus communis is a typical plant of Mediterranean area. The different parts of this plant such as berries, branches, and leaves have been used worldwide as a traditional/folk medicine for the treatment of various ailments and diseases.MethodsEthanolic leaf extract of the plant was prepared by Soxhlet extraction method. Zone of inhibition, minimum inhibitory concentration and minimal bactericidal concentration were determined by well diffusion method and microplate alamar blue assay. GC-MS analysis was carried out to identify the compounds present in the extract. Microscopy and ImageJ software were used respectively for morphology and cell-length measurements. GraphPad Prism was used for statistical analysis.ResultsThe ethanolic extract showed strong inhibitory effect against Gram-positive and acid-fast bacteria with significant inhibition-zone size (9–25 mm), MIC (4.87–78 μg/ml), as well as MBC (0.3–20 mg/ml). However, no effect was observed on the growth of Gram-negative bacteria. The growth inhibition was found to be associated with the damage of cell wall as the extract-treated cells were sensitive to cell wall-targeting antibiotics and displayed the cell wall damage-depicting morphological defects. GC-MS analysis confirmed the presence of novel compounds in addition to the most representative compounds of the essential oils/extracts of M. communis of other country origins.ConclusionThese results demonstrate that M. communis leaf extract could be the source of compounds to be used for the treatment of Gram-positive bacterial infections. This is the first report, which provides insights into the mechanism of action of the extract in inhibiting the growth of Gram-positive bacteria.
Highlights
IntroductionThe different parts of this plant such as berries, branches, and leaves have been used worldwide as a traditional/folk medicine for the treatment of various ailments and diseases
Myrtus communis is a typical plant of Mediterranean area
Strong antibacterial activity of the extract against Grampositives In order to investigate the antibacterial activity of the M. communis extract, both the laboratory and reference strains including Gram-positive, Gram-negative and acid-fast were treated with two-fold dilutions of extract ranging from 0.4 g/ml to 3 μg/ml
Summary
The different parts of this plant such as berries, branches, and leaves have been used worldwide as a traditional/folk medicine for the treatment of various ailments and diseases. GC-MS analysis of the extract detected 50 compounds, most of which are found in same plant type of other country’s origin Several of these compounds are documented to have antibacterial activity. One of the possible ways to treat these antibiotic resistant bacterial infections is to identify the novel compounds of the medicinal plants used in traditional medicine. Isolation of the compounds from M. communis and determination of their antibacterial activity individually or in combination with already available drugs might help in treating the drug resistant human pathogens by any of the possible way(s) as discussed in the review by Ayaz et al [16]
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