Phytochemical analysis and bioactivity of selected South African medicinal plants on clinical isolates of Helicobacter pylori

• Main Author: Njume, Collise
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: University of Fort Hare 2011
• Subjects: Helicobacter pylori; Medicinal plants > Biotechnology; Traditional medicine > South Africa > Eastern Cape; Antibiotics; Drug resistance in microorganisms; Extracts; Helicobacter pylori infections
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/449

Medicinal plants have been used as traditional medicine in the treatment of numerous human diseases for thousands of years in many parts of the world. In the developing world, especially in rural areas, herbal remedies continue to be a primary source of medicine. Scientifically, medicinal plants have proven to be an abundant source of biologically active compounds, many of which have already been formulated into useful therapeutic substances or have provided a basis for the development of new lead molecules for pharmaceuticals. Antibiotic resistance, undesireable side effects and expences associated with the use of combination therapy in the treatment of Helicobacter pylori infections have generated a considerable interest in the study of medicinal plants as potential sources of new drugs against this organism. The high complexicity of bioactive compounds accumulated in plants coupled with their broad antimicrobial activity may make it difficult for pathogenic organisms, including H. pylori to acquire resistance during treatment. This study therefore evaluates the antimicrobial potential of selected South African medicinal plants employed in the treatment of H. pylori-related infections, and the subsequent isolation of the plant active principles. An ethnobotanical survey of plants used in the treatment of H. pylori-related infections was conducted in the study area. Crude extracts of Combretum molle, Sclerocarya birrea, Garcinia kola, Alepidea amatymbica and 2 Strychnos species were screened against 30 clinical strains of H. pylori and 2 standard control strains (NCTC 11638 and ATCC 43526). In the preliminary stages of this study, ethyl acetate, acetone, ethanol, methanol and water extracts of the plants were tested against H. pylori by agar well diffusion and micro broth dilution methods. The plant crude extracts that exhibited anti-H. pylori activity with a iv percentage susceptibility of 50 percent and above were considered for the rate of kill assays and the most active crude extracts selected for bio-assay guided isolation of the active ingredient. Preliminary fractionation of the crude extract was achieved by thin layer chromatography (TLC) using different solvent combinations; hexane/diethylether (HDE), ethyl acetate/methanol/water (EMW) and chloroform/ethyl acetate/formic acid (CEF) in order to determine the most suitable combination for column chromatography (CC) and subsequent testing by indirect bioautography. The extract was then fractionated in a silica gel column using previously determined solvent combinations as eluent. Active fractions obtained from column chromatography separations were further fractionated and the compounds identified by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis. All the plants exhibited antimicrobial activity against H. pylori with zone of inhibition diameters ranging from 0 - 38 mm and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values ranging from 0.06 - 5.0 mg/mL. The most active plant extracts were the acetone extract of C. molle with a percentage susceptibility of 87.1 percent, acetone and aqueous extracts of S. birrea (71 percent each) and the ethanolic extracts of G. kola (53.3 percent). Except for the aqueous extract, these extracts also exhibited a strong bactericidal activity against H. pylori at different concentrations. TLC analysis revealed the presence of 9 components in the acetone extract of S. birrea with the EMW solvent system as opposed to 5 and 8 with HDE and CEF respectively. Bioassay-guided isolation led to the identification of 52 compounds from the acetone extract of S. birrea with n-octacosane being the most abundant (41.68 percent). This was followed by pyrrolidine (38.91 percent), terpinen-4-ol (38.3 percent), n-eicosane (24.98 percent), cyclopentane (16.76 percent), n-triacontane (16.28 percent), aromadendrene (13.63 percent) and α-gujunene (8.77 percent). Terpinen-4-ol and pyrrolidine demonstrated strong antimicrobial activity against H. pylori at all concentrations tested. These results may serve as preliminary scientific validation of the ethnomedicinal uses of the above mentioned plants in the treatment of H. pylori-related infections in South Africa. Terpinen-4-ol and pyrrolidine could be considered for further evaluation as therapeutic or prophylactic agents in the treatment of H. pylori-related infections. However, further investigations would be necessary to determine their toxicological properties, in-vivo potencies and mechanism of action against H.pylori