Top

BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies

Published in:

Open Access 01-12-2014 | Research article

Anti-staphylococcal, anti-HIV and cytotoxicity studies of four South African medicinal plants and isolation of bioactive compounds from Cassine transvaalensis (Burtt. Davy) codd

Authors: Ningy S Mthethwa, Bola AO Oyedeji, Larry C Obi, Olayinka A Aiyegoro

Published in: BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies | Issue 1/2014

Abstract

Background

Medicinal plants represent an important opportunity to rural communities in Africa, as a source of affordable medicine and as a source of income. Increased patient awareness about safe usage is important as well as more training with regards to traditional medicine. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ethnomedicinal prowess of some indigenous South African plants commonly used in Eastern Cape Province of South Africa for the treatment of skin and respiratory tract infections, HIV and their toxicity potential.

Methods

Cassine transvaalensis, Vangueria infausta, Croton gratissimus and Vitex ferruginea were tested for antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis using Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion and minimum inhibition concentration (MIC). Cytotoxic and anti-HIV-1 activities of plants were tested using MTT Assay (3- (Dimethylthiozole-2-yl-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide)) and anti- HIV-1iib assay. In search of bioactive lead compounds, Cassine transvaalensis which was found to be the most active plant extract against the two Staphylocoous bacteria was subjected to various chromatographic. Thin layer chromatography, Column chromatography and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), (¹H-¹H, ¹³C-¹³C, in DMSO_d6, Bruker 600 MHz) were used to isolate and characterize 3-Oxo-28-hydroxylbetuli-20(29)-ene and 3,28-dihydroxylbetuli-20(29)-ene bioactive compounds from C. transvaalensis.

Results

The four plants studied exhibited bioactive properties against the test isolates. The zones of inhibition ranged between 16 mm to 31 mm for multi-drug resistant staphylococci species. MIC values varied between 0.6 and 0.02 μg/ml. C. gratissimus and C. transvaalensis exhibited the abilities to inhibit HIV-1_iib. Two bioactive compounds were isolated from C. transvaalensis.

Conclusion

Data from this study reveals the use of these plant by traditional healers in the Eastern Cape. Furthermore, C. transvaalensis and C. gratissimus were found to be more active as against HIV-1iib. While C. transvaalensis was most active against the two Staphylococcus bacteria.

Available only for authorised users

Odugbemi TO, Akinsulire OR, Aibinu IE, Fabeku PO: Medicinal plants useful for malaria therapy in Okeigbo, Ondo state, South west Nigeria. Afr J Tradit Complement Altern Med. 2007, 4: 191-198.

Hart BL: Behavioural defences in animals against pathogens and parasites: parallels with the pillars of medicine in humans. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B BiolSci. 2011, 366: 3406-3417. 10.1098/rstb.2011.0092.CrossRef

Mamokone SM: PhD thesis. Characterization and Biological Activity of Antifungal Compounds Present Breonadiasalanica (Rubiaceae) Leaves. 2009, University of Pretoria

Fleischhauer A: PhD thesis. Non-Compliance with an Alien World: a Critical Analysis of Indigenous People’s Rights and International Heritage Protection. 1989, Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus

Karinge JW: A survey of traditional health remedies used by the Maasai of Southern Kaijiado District, Kenya. Ethnobot Res App. 2006, 4: 061-073.CrossRef

Palgrave KC: Trees of Southern Africa. Second revised edition. 2000, Cape Town, South Africa: Struik Publishers (Pty) Ltd

Mulholland DA, Langat MK, Crouch NR, Coley HM, Matambi EM, Nuzillard J: Cembranolides from the stem bark of the Southern African medicinal plant Croton gratissimus (Euphorbiaceae). Phytochemistry. 2010, 71: 1381-1386. 10.1016/j.phytochem.2010.05.014.CrossRefPubMed

Jacana L: Sappi Tree Spotting KwaZulu Natal coast and Midlands Tree Identification Made Easy. 1998, ISBN1-874955-51-4

Van Wyk B-E, Van Oudtshoorn B, Gericke N: Medicinal Plants of South Africa. 1997, South Africa: Briza Publications

10.

Behr K: Vangueriainfausta.http://www.plantzafrica.com/planttuv/vanguarinfaust.htm,

11.

Alumran A, Hou XY, Hurst C: Assessing the overuse of antibiotics in children in URTIs in Saudi Arabia: Development of the parent perception on antibiotic scale (PAPA scale). J Epidemiol Glob Heal. 2013, 3: 10-18.

12.

Diekema DJ, Pfaller MA: Rapid detection of antibiotic resistant organism carriage for infection prevention. Health Care Epidemiol. 2013, doi:10-1093/cid/cit038

13.

Martineau F, Picard FJ, Lansac N, Menard C, Roy PH, Ouellette M, Bergeron MG: Correlation between the resistance genotype determined by multiplex PCR assays and the antibiotic susceptibility patterns of Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2000, 44: 231-238. 10.1128/AAC.44.2.231-238.2000.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

14.

Matsoka M, Inoue M, Endo Y, Nakajima Y: Characteristic expression of three genes msr(A), mph(C) and erm(Y), that confer resistance to the macrolide antibiotics on Staphylococcus aureus. FEMS Microbiol Lett. 2003, 220: 287-293. 10.1016/S0378-1097(03)00134-4.CrossRef

15.

Lee SS, Kim HS, Kang HJ, Kim JK, Chung DR: Rapid spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a new hospital in the broad spectrum antibiotic era. J Infect. 2007, 55: 358-362. 10.1016/j.jinf.2007.06.011.CrossRefPubMed

16.

Eze EA, Oruche NE, Anuora VC, Eze CN: Antibacterial screening of crude ethanolic leaf extracts of four medicinal plants. J Asian Sci Res. 2013, 3: 431-439.

17.

Driscoll AJ, Bhat N, Karron RA, O’Brien KL, Murdoch OR: Disk diffusion bioassays for detection of antibiotic activity in body fluids: applications for the Pneumonia ethology research for child health research project. Clin Infect Dis. 2012, 54: S159-164. 10.1093/cid/cir1061.CrossRefPubMed

18.

Mathabe MC, Hussein AA, Nikolova RV, Basson AE, Meyer JJM, Lall N: Antibacterial activities and cytotoxicity of terpenoids isolated from Spirostachys Africana. J Ethnopharmacol. 2007, 116: 194-197.CrossRefPubMed

19.

Mosmann T: Rapid colorimetric assay for cellular growth and survival: application to proliferation and cytotoxicity assays. J Immunol Methods. 1983, 65: 55-63. 10.1016/0022-1759(83)90303-4.CrossRefPubMed

20.

Akhir NAM, Chua LS, Majid FAA, Sarmidi MR: Cytotoxicity of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Ficusdeltoidea on human ovarian carcinoma cell line. Br J Medic Med Res. 2011, 1: 397-409. 10.9734/BJMMR/2011/507.CrossRef

21.

Theo A, Masebe TA, Suzuki T, Kukuchi H, Wada H, Obi CL, Bessong OP, Usuzawa M, Oshima Y, Hattori T: Peltophorum africunum, a traditional South African medicinal plant containing an anti HIV-1 constituent betulinic acid. Tohoku J Exp Med. 2009, 217: 93-99. 10.1620/tjem.217.93.CrossRefPubMed

22.

Kanamoto T, Kashiwada Y, Kanbara K, Gotoh K, Yoshimori M, Goto T, Sano K, Nakashima H: Anti-human immunodeficiency virus activity of YK-FH312 (a Butalinic acid derivative), a novel compound blocking viral maturation. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2001, 45: 1225-1230. 10.1128/AAC.45.4.1225-1230.2001.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

23.

Van Vuuren SF: Antimicrobial activity of South African medicinal plants. J Ethnopharmacol. 2008, 119: 462-472. 10.1016/j.jep.2008.05.038.CrossRefPubMed

24.

Kweyu PL, Bii C, Akenga AT, Wanjala WC: Antimicrobial marine natural products from the sponge Axinellainfun dibuliformis. Rec Nat Prod. 2008, 2: 116-127.

25.

Tinto WF, Blair LC, Ali A, Reynolds WF, McLean S: Lupane triterpenoids of Salaciacordata. J Nat Prod. 1992, 55: 395-398. 10.1021/np50081a020.CrossRef

26.

Mahato SB, Kundu AS: Review article number 98 13C NMR spectra of pentacyclic triterpenoids. a compilation and some salient features. Phytochemistry. 1994, 37: 1517-1575. 10.1016/S0031-9422(00)89569-2.CrossRef

27.

Steenkamp V, Mathivha E, Gouws MC, Van Rensburg CEJ: Studies on antibacterial antioxidant and fibroblast growth stimulation of wound healing remedies from South Africa. J Ethnopharmacol. 2004, 95: 353-357. 10.1016/j.jep.2004.08.020.CrossRefPubMed

28.

Steenkamp V, Fernades AC, Van Rensburg CEJ: Screening of Venda medicinal plants for antifungal activity against Candida albicans. South Afri J Bot. 2007, 73: 256-258. 10.1016/j.sajb.2006.11.003.CrossRef

29.

Motlhanka DMT, Habtemariam S, Houghton P: Scavenging activity of crude extracts and 4′-O-Methylepigallo catechin isolated from roots of Cassine transvaalensis Burtt-Davy from Botswana. Afr J Biomed Res. 2008, 11: 55-63.

30.

Shai LJ, Chauke MA, Magano SR, Mogale AM, Eloff JN: Antibacterial activity of sixteen plant species from Phalaborwa, Limpopo Province, South Africa. J Med Plants Res. 2013, 7: 1899-1906.

31.

Samie A, Tambani T, Harshfield E, Green E, Ramalivhana JN, Bessong PO: Antifungal activities of selected Venda medicinal plants against Candida albicans, Candida krusei and Cryptococcus neoformans isolated from South African AIDS patients. Afr J Biotech. 2010, 9: 2965-2976.

The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here:http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6882/14/512/prepub

Title: Anti-staphylococcal, anti-HIV and cytotoxicity studies of four South African medicinal plants and isolation of bioactive compounds from Cassine transvaalensis (Burtt. Davy) codd
Authors: Ningy S Mthethwa
Bola AO Oyedeji
Larry C Obi
Olayinka A Aiyegoro
Publication date: 01-12-2014
Publisher: BioMed Central
Published in: BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies / Issue 1/2014
Electronic ISSN: 2662-7671
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6882-14-512

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Anti-staphylococcal, anti-HIV and cytotoxicity studies of four South African medicinal plants and isolation of bioactive compounds from Cassine transvaalensis (Burtt. Davy) codd

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 1/2014

The utilisation of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) among ethnic minorities in South Korea

Proteome profiling of lipopolysaccharide induced L6 rat skeletal muscle cells response to flavonoids from Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi

Evaluation of the anti-mycobacterium tuberculosis activity and in vivo acute toxicity of Annona sylvatic

Cranberry proanthocyanidins have anti-biofilm properties against Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Anti-inflammatory activity of the ethanol extract of Dictamnus dasycarpus leaf in lipopolysaccharide-activated macrophages

Electroacupuncture improves cerebral blood flow and attenuates moderate ischemic injury via Angiotensin II its receptors-mediated mechanism in rats