THE EFFECT OF SOME MEDICINAL PLANTS ON BACTERIAL SKIN
INFECTIONS
Dr. Nada Khazal Kadhim Hindi *1, Dr. Husein Abbas Rehim Alsultany2,
Dr. Ifad Kerim Abd Alshibly3, Zainab Adil Ghani Chabuck3
1Basic and Medical science Department, College of Nursing, Babylon University, Iraq.
2Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, Babylon University, Iraq.
3Department of microbiology, College of Medicine, Babylon University, Iraq.
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.
WORLD JOURNAL OF PHARMACY AND PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES
Volume 2, Issue 5, 2355-2366. Research Article ISSN 2278 – 4357
Article Received on
02 August 2013,
Revised on 23 August 2013,
Accepted on 25 September
2013
*Correspondence for
Author:
* Dr. Nada Khazal Kadhim
Hindi
PhD medical microbiology
Address: Basic and Medical
science Department,
College of Nursing, Babylon
University, Iraq.
nadakhazal@yahoo.com,
www.wjpps.com
2356
Nada Khazal et al. World Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Keywords: plant extract, skin infection, garlic, onion, olive oil, olive leaf, henna, basil leaf,
fig, Mirabilis jalapa and Anagallis arvensis.