<italic>In-Vitro</italic> Susceptibility of <italic>Mycobacterium Ulcerans</italic> to Herbal Preparations

Abstract

Buruli ulcer (BU) is a skin disease caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans. Surgery is the main treatment option because antibiotics have mostly been ineffective. However, there are reports of successful treatment with undisclosed herbal preparations. This study screened 44 herbal preparations for (i) inhibitory activity against 7 M. ulcerans isolates, (ii) determined the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 10 herbal preparations and (iii) screened them for extended antimicrobial activity, since BU is often associated with secondary bacterial infections. Twenty-five of the herbal preparations inhibited the growth of the M. ulcerans isolates. MICs of the 10 herbal preparations were between 0.20 and 12.50% volume/volume (1:128 1:2), and all 10 demonstrated extended antimicrobial activity. The findings (i) indirectly confirmed the claims that BU is being successfully treated with herbal preparations and (ii) suggest that the treatment of BU with herbal preparations might simultaneously treat secondary bacterial and fungal infections. In conclusion, there are a number of herbal preparations with anti-M. ulcerans activity, therefore there is the need to pay more attention to herbal therapy as a potential BU treatment option.