Aethiopinone, an antibacterial and cytotoxic agent from Salvia aethiopis roots

Abstract

Roots of Salvia aethiopis L. were investigated for antimicrobial activity due to their reported medical use. Bioassay-guided fractionation of the crude extracts from the roots led to Me2CO extract as most active, exhibiting antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermis, Micrococcus luteus, Bacillus subtilis and Bordetella bronchiseptica. The highest antimicrobial activity with MICs values of 2.44 μg/ml and 1.22 μg/ml against S. epidermis and B. subtilis, respectively, was observed with aethiopinone, which also showed cytotoxic activity towards cultured KB human carcinoma cells with an ED50 value of 0.62 μg/ml.