International Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health Volume 1, Issue 1, 2011 Crosshouse books
Original Research Paper
INVESTIGATING THE EFFECT OF A LOCAL HERB- P. AMARUS (SCHUM. AND THONN.) ON ENTEROPATHOGENIC STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS AND ESCHERICHIA COLI. BY ETTA, Hannah Edim, ELOMA, Nnanke, OKON, Essien Archibong and OFFOR, Ubana BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE DEPARTMENT, CROSS RIVER UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY , CALABAR, CROSS RIVER STATE, NIGERIA. Abstract Objectives: Entero-pathogenic Staphylococcus aureus (EPSA) and Escherica coli (EPEC) were treated with a methanol extract of Phyllanthus amarus, in vitro, to investigate the possible effects of the herb on these organisms. Zones of Inhibition (ZI) of the extract on EPSA and EPEC cultures and the Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MIC) of the methanolic extracts were determined using standard procedures. EPEC showed mean ZI of 17.7 ± 2.56, while the mean ZI for EPSA was 14.79 ± 3.87. Statistical analyses showed positive correlation of 0.56 at P≤0.1 between the plant extract concentrations and EPEC ZI and 0.75 at P ≤0.1 for the EPSA. At the concentrations administered, the extract was active against both EPSA and EPEC isolates. These results present the herb, P. amarus as a possible biotechnological tool in the field of herbal medicine for the control of antibiotic-resistant, entero-pathogenic S. aureus and E. coli infections. Keywords: Entero-pathogenic bacteria, Phyllanthus amarus, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherica coli. Introduction The use of herbs and herbal derivatives in Traditional Medicine Practices (TMP), as a biotechnological tool, has come to stay, not just in Nigeria but in most tropical regions of the world where there are vast, dense, evergreen forests that nature has presented to humanity as a gift of a therapeutic workshop with a wide variety of medicinal plants. With the recent advances in contemporary alternative medicine (CAM) and the emergence of multi resistant strains of microbials, it
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