Surveying on in vitro antibacterial activity of chenopodium album striatum

Negin Khomarlou,1 Parviz aberoomand-azar,2 Ardalan pasdaran lashgari,3 Ali hakakian,4,* Reza ranjbar,5 S. a. ayatollahi,6

1. Department of Chemistry, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
2. Department of Chemistry, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
3. Research Center for Prevention of Oral and Dental Disease, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
4. Faculty Member of Production and Research Complex, Pasteur Institute of Iran
5. Molecular Biology Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
6. Phytochemistry Research Center and Pharmacognosy Department, Shahid Beheshti University of Medicinal Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract


Introduction

In recent years, there is a significant interest in medicinal plants and their metabolites because most of them have several advantages such as efficacy, cultural acceptability, and better compatibility with human body, as well as lesser side effects. on the other hand, antibiotic resistance has become a serious and widespread problem in developing countries because of inappropriate usage, abusive and over prescription of antibiotics causing mortality each year. global emergence of resistant bacteria is the result of the ineffectiveness of current antibiotics and drugs causing treatment failure. hence, there is a growing interest in alternative therapy and therapeutic use of natural products especially medicinal plants. essential oil of plants can inhibit the growth of broad spectrum of pathogenic microorganisms drawing the attention for their biological and bioactive compounds with antimicrobial activity. many chenopodium species as well as chenopodium album were reported to have numerous medicinal properties such as antipruritic, antibacterial, antifungal, and anticancer effect. the aim of this study was to screen the in vitro antimicrobial activity of the ch. album subsp. striatum as potential sources of natural antimicrobial agents. ch. album striatum has been used locally for its traditional and medicinal properties, however, its efficacies against mdr bacteria have not been studied so in this study we are intended for retrieving the attention of scientific community on the antibacterial activity of essential oil and provide to develop new drug from natural products because we believe their constituents can be considered in future for more clinical investigations and as adjuvants to current medications. the present study was designed to determine the role of the essential oil of ch. album subsp. striatum for potential antibacterial activity according to standard protocols by agar-based methods (well and disk diffusion) and mic, mbc tests against some selected mdr gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria.

Methods

Ch. album subsp. striatum was obtained from tissue culture. the shade-dried plant material (500 g) were subjected to hydrodistillation for 4 h using clevenger-type apparatus. the used gram-positive and gram-negative species were staphylococcus aureus, escherichia coli, shigella flexneri, sh. sonnei, sh. dysenteriae, salmonella typhimurium, s. enteritidis, and s. infantis. bacteria species were taken from isolated specimens which exhibited resistance to some antibiotics in hospitalized patients. the hydrodistilled essential oil was first dissolved up to 5% v/v of total essential oil in dmso (dimethyl sulfoxide) to the final concentration of 10 mg/ml for mic (minimum inhibitory concentration) and mbc (minimum bactericidal concentration) assay and 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60 mg/ml for agar well and disc diffusion methods. the protocol of the study was based on clsi guidelines.

Results

The result of current research revealed considerable antibacterial activity against mdr microorganism. the inhibition zones were in the range of 7.0±0.6 mm to 15.0±1.0 mm in well diffusion method and 7.0±0.0 mm to 16.0±0.6 mm in disc diffusion method. the mic value ranged from 0.31 mg/ml to 2.5 mg/ml and mbc value of the essential oil ranged from 0.62 mg/ml to 5 mg/ml. the essential oil showed greater inhibitory effect on the growth of s. typhimurium and sh. dysenteriae, while it had no antimicrobial effect against s. enteritidis by microdilution methods. it is imperative that less expensive antibacterial agents should be developed to cure patients, regardless of financial status so medicinal plants can be the best option. some medicinal plants have been known for their antibacterial properties, but their efficacies against mdr bacteria have not been well-documented in the medicinal literature. ch. album subsp. striatum showed significant antagonist activities against mdr gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. varying agar well and disc diffusion, mic and mbc values could be attributed to the reinforced defense mechanism acquired by mdr bacteria.

Conclusion

The data presented in this study describe the broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity of ch. album subsp. striatum essential oil as a novel and cost-effective antibacterial agent against mdr bacteria. in addition, it also provide a basis for reviving investigation on the biopharmaceutical diversity of essential oils. additional and complementary studies are required concerning phytochemical screening, physiological analysis, isolation, purification and quantification of bioactive components of the plant for its in vivo assessment.

Keywords

Chenopodium album subsp. striatum, antibacterial activity, multidrug-resistant bacteria,