Research on safety and efficacy of traditional medicine: Antimycobacterial activity of five plant spp. on multi drug resistant tuberculosis

4^th International Conference on Medicinal Chemistry & Computer Aided Drug Designing

November 02-04, 2015 Atlanta, USA

Bunalema L1, Tabuti J R S2 and Waako P1

Makerere University, Uganda

Posters-Accepted Abstracts: Med chem

Abstract :

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the leading causes of death among infectious diseases with a third of the world�s population being infected and 9.2 million new cases recorded each year (WHO 2007). This devastating situation has steadily worsened, exacerbated by the emergence of drug-resistant strains (MDR and XDR) and HIV co-infection. Available treatment regimens are lengthy and complex, inviting problems of non-adherence, inadequate response and in the case of MDR TB, second line drugs used are more toxic and expensive. There is need for new leads that can be developed in to new drugs. Objectives: (1) To document plant species commonly used by traditional medicine practitioners to treat TB and (2) To determine the minimum inhibitoryconcentration of selected plant species on MDR TB. Methods: The method included use of a guided questionnaire for the first objective and then micro-titer Alamar Blue Assay (MABA) for the second objective. Results: A total of 90 plant species, distributed within 43 families were documented in this study. TMPs had knowledge of how TB is transmitted and they admitted that it is closely associated with HIV. Five plants were tested for antimycobacterial activity on multidrug resistant strainsusing the Micro-titre Alamar Blue Assay. Of the five species tested, Zanthoxylum spp. and Callistemon spp. showed the highest activity with MICs of 0.128333 mg/ml and 0.195 mg/ml on the isoniazid resistant strain, respectively, while Callistemon spp. had an MIC of 0.158333 mg/ml on the rifampicin resistant strain. Piptadenistrum africanum and Blighia unijugata were not active on any of the strains. Conclusion: The plant species that were mentioned most by the Traditional Medicine Practitioners showed activity not only on the pan sensitive strains of TB but also on the multidrug resistant strains. These could be developed into drugs for the treatment of MDR TB.

Biography :

Email: blydia2002@yahoo.com