Abstract
Isoniazid and rifampicin form the backbone for the current treatment of tuberculosis. The emergence of resistance to these drugs and other second line drugs has made tuberculosis treatment difficult. There is need, thus, to discover new drugs that are free of resistance or can modify resistance mechanism in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This study investigated the antimycobacterial effects of the leaf extracts from Syzygium guineense on Mycobacterium aurum and Mycobacterium smegmatis. The broth microdilution method was used for the screening of growth inhibitory activity. The mechanism of action of the extracts that showed potent activity was tested by determining its effects on protein leakage and inhibition of transport across the cell membrane. The methanol extract of Syzygium guineense was found to be the most potent extract that inhibited mycobacterial growth. The extract was also found to cause the leakage of proteins from the mycobacteria, inhibit drug efflux across the cell membrane and antagonised the antimycobacterial effect of rifampicin. These results suggest that in vivo, the co-administration of antimycobacterial agent rifampicin and extracts of S. guineense could result in therapeutic failure. However, the ability of the extract to inhibit efflux pumps could delay the emergence of resistance to current anti-tuberculosis drugs.
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