Abstract

THE EFFECT OF SOME MEDICINAL PLANTS ON BACTERIAL SKIN INFECTIONS

ABSTRACT

Background: Infectious diseases are the world’s leading cause of premature deaths, killing more than 50000 people every day. In recent years, drug resistance to human pathogenic bacteria has been commonly reported from all over the world. Indigenous remedies are gaining popularity in both rural and urban areas because they are effective, safe and inexpensive. Information collected from ethnic groups has played an important role in the discovery of new products from plants as chemotherapeutic agents . Aims: The present study focused on the antimicrobial activity of some medicinal plants against bacterial and fungal infections of the skin . Methods: The antmicrobial effects of aqueous extracts of garlic, onion, olive oil, olive leaf, henna, basil leaf, Mirabilis jalapa, fig leaf, and Anagallis arvensis, was studied against clinical isolates of S. aureus, S. epidermidis, S. pyogenes, and candida albicanis, isolated from different skin infections. Bonferroni test recommended by Danial, was used for statistical analysis (P ≤ 0.05) to show if there is any significant differences in the results. Results: The aqueous extracts of all the screened herbs showed various inhibitory effects. The highest antimicrobial activities obtained by extract from henna and olive oil, with lesser activity produced by the other types of extracts. Conclusions: botanical herbs might have antimicrobial activity against different bacterial and yeast pathogens associated with various skin infections.

Keywords: plant extract, skin infection, garlic, onion, olive oil, olive leaf, henna, basil leaf, fig, Mirabilis jalapa and Anagallis arvensis.