Background: Crataegus mexicana
,
Hyptis albida,
Larrea tridentata
,
Ocimum baislicum,
Prunus serotina
, and
Smilax
spp. are used in Mexican
traditional medicine to treat respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases such as flu, cough, diarrhea, dysentery, and other parasitic or microbial
infections. Therefore this study was aimed at the pharmacological prospection of these plants against eleven bacterial species and three
amitochondrial protist pathogens.
Material and methods: The fruits or aerial parts of
C. mexicana,
H. albida,
L. tridentata,
O. baislicum,
P. serotina, and
Smilax spp. were
extracted with different solvents. The antibacterial properties of organic and aqueous extracts of these plants were determined by the
microdilution method and the microplate alamar blue assay against
Stenotrophomonas maltophilia
,
Escherichia coli
,
Acinetobacter baumannii
,
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
,
Klebsiella pneumoniae
,
Enterobacter cloacae
,
Staphylococcus aureus
, methicillin-resistant
S. aureus,
Listeria
monocytogenes
,
Enterococcus faecalis
, and
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
, whereas anti-protozoal activities of extracts were evaluated by a vial
micro-assay against strains of
Entamoeba histolytica
, Trichomonas vaginalis, and
Giardia lamblia
.
Results: H. albida,
Smilax spp, and
C. mexicana showed good activity against the Gram-positive strains,
S. aureus, methicillin-resistant
S.
aureus, and
E. faecalis. Four extracts (
C. mexicana,
H. albida,
O. basilicum, and
L. tridentata) showed good activity against
E. histolytica,
T.
vaginalis, and
G. lamblia.
Conclusion: The extracts of these six medicinal plants could be a source for new antibacterial and antiprotozoal drugs. For this reason they are
currently under investigation to isolate and characterize their active compounds.
