Antimicrobial activity in vitro of plumbagin isolated from Plumbago species

• Published in: Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz
• Main Authors: Selma Ribeiro de Paiva, Maria Raquel Figueiredo, Tânia Verônica Aragão, Maria Auxiliadora Coelho Kaplan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ) 2003-10-01
• Subjects: Plumbago scandens; plumbagin; antimicrobial activity
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0074-02762003000700017

Plumbagin is a naturally occurring naphthoquinone isolated from roots of Plumbago scandens. The plant was collected at the Campus of Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. P. scandens is used as a traditional medicine for the treatment of several diseases. The antimicrobial activity of plumbagin was evaluated using the macrodilution method. The compound exhibited relatively specific activity against bacteria and yeast. The minimum inhibitory concentration test showed the growth inhibiton of Staphylococcus aureus at a concentration of 1.56 µg/ml and of Candida albicans at a concentration of 0.78 µg/ml. These results suggest the naphthoquinone plumbagin as a promising antimicrobial agent.