Advancement in Medicinal Plant Research

1-7

Authors: Mohammed I. Garbi, Elbadri E. Osman, Mahmoud M. Dahab, Waleed S. Koko, Ahmed S. Kabbashi, Awatif A. Elegami and Sheema Y. Hamed

The World Health Organization ranks diarrheal disease as the second (after acute respiratory infections) most common cause of morbidity and mortality in children in the developing world. Entamoeba histolytica and Giardia lamblia are two of the most important and most widespread diarrhea-related parasitic protozoa in the world. Metronidazole is used as a drug of choice against amoebiasis and giardiasis. However, like a lot of other chemical agents, this drug has its own side effects. The present study was carried out to evaluate antigiardial, antiamoebic activity and explore the cytotoxicity of Vitex trifolia (leaves) variety supreme court leaves petroleum ether and methanolic extracts in vitro. The highest activity against Giardia lamblia, with respect to time, was obtained from petroleum ether extract which exhibited 75.25% mortality within 72 h with a concentration of 1000 ppm followed by the same extract which exhibited 72.07% mortality within 72 h with a concentration of 500 ppm. On the other hand, the lowest antigiardial activity was recorded by petroleum ether extract 58.92% mortality with 125 ppm concentration in 72 h. The highest activity against Entamoba histolytica, with respect to time, was obtained from methanolic extract which exhibited 61.64% mortality within 72 h with a concentration of 1000 ppm. On the other hand, the lowest antiamobic activity was recorded by petroleum ether extract 53.62% mortality with 125 ppm concentration within 72 h. The cytotoxicity of methanol and petroleum ether extract had varying degrees of toxicity to Vero cell lines with IC50 349.07 μg/ml for the methanol extract and 369.77 μg/ml for the petroleum ether extract. Keywords: Vitex doniana (Leaves), antigiardial, antiamoebic, cytotoxicity, Sudan.

18-22

Authors: Khalid S. Abd-Ulgadir, Suliman I. Suliman, Ismail A. Zakria and Nasr El-Deen A. Hassan

Antimicrobial resistance threatens the effective prevention and treatment of an ever-increasing range of infections caused by bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi. Patients with infections caused by drug-resistant microorganisms are generally at increased risk of worse clinical outcomes and death, and consume more healthcare resources. This study was carried out to evaluate the antimicrobial potential of leaves and seeds methanolic extracts of the medicinal plants Hibiscus sabdariffa and Ricinus communis against standard microbial strains include Gram-positive bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria and fungal strains. The agar well diffusion technique was carried out to perform the antimicrobial activity of the candidate plants. Leaves from methanolic extracts of H. sabdariffa was found to be more active against Gram-positive bacteria (Bacillus subitilis NCTC: 8236 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC: 25923), as well as Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli ATCC: 25922, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC: 27853, Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC: 53657 and Proteus vulgaris ATCC: 6380) than leaves methanolic extracts of R. communis. The leaves from methanolic extracts of H. sabdariffa obtained an intermediate antifungal activity against two reference fungal strains (Candida albicans ATCC: 7596 and Aspergillus niger ATCC: 9765). The seeds from methanolic extracts of R. communis and H. sabdariffa did not show any activity against both bacterial and fungal reference strains examined. In the present study, methanolic leaves extracts of H. sabdariffa revealed that the selected plant had a significant potential effect to inhibit the growth of both bacterial and fungal strains. Keywords: Ricinus communis, Hibiscus sabdariffa, antimicrobial potential, methanolic extracts, Escherichia coli, seeds extract.