Antibacterial Activity of Abrus precatorius (Linn.) Leaf Extract Against Multi-resistant Wound Bacterial Isolates

Abstract

Background and Objectives: There are increasing reports of isolation of multi-drug resistant bacteria from infected wounds. There is, therefore, urgent need to identify these pathogens and find the best ways of improving wound care and management. In the midst of the reported multi-resistance of wound pathogens to conventional antibiotics, this study was carried out to investigate some of the folkloric uses of ethanolic and aqueous extracts of A. precatorius against multi-drug resistant wound pathogens recovered from patients from a referral hospital in Nigeria. Material(s) and Method(s): One hundred wound samples from patients presenting at a referral hospital in Nigeria were screened in this study using microbiological methods. The susceptibility of the recovered isolates against ethanolic extracts of Abrus precatorius was evaluated. Result(s): Sixty-six bacterial organisms were isolated and 3 different microbial species were most predominately isolated: Staphylococcus aureus (45%) followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (24%) and Escherichia coli (15%). Susceptibility to ethanol extract of Abrus precatorius was high among S. aureus (87%) followed by E. coli (67%) then P. aeruginosa (60%) and for the aqueous extract, 43% of the recovered S. aureus isolates were susceptible while there was no effect observed for E. coli and P. aeruginosa wound isolates. Interestingly, apart from its anti-bacteria activity, it also showed potent activity on multi-drug resistant bacterial wound isolates. Conclusion(s): Findings from the present study substantiate the folkloric use of A. precatorius leaf extract for wound treatment.Copyright © 2020 Oka Chiamaka U. and Nweze Emeka I.