SCREENING OF ANTIBACTERIAL AND CYTOTOXIC ACTIVITY OF EXTRACTS FROM EPIDERMIS AND EPIDERMAL MUCUS OF BARBONYMUS SCHWANENFELDII (TINFOIL BARB FISH)

Abstract

Aim: The main objective of this work is to increase the utilization of by-products like mucus and skin from Tinfoil barb fish in order to isolate antibacterial protein against gram positive and gram negative microorganism. Materials and Methods: The fish epidermis and epidermal mucus samples were extracted with crude, ethanol and dichloromethane to identify potential antimicrobial agents including the ethanol and dichloromethane soluble compounds. Preliminary screening for antimicrobial activity of the extracts were tested against two Gram-positive bacteria Bacillus cereus (MTCC 1306)and Staphylococcus aureus(MTCC 3160) and two Gram-negative bacteria Shigellaboydii and E.coli(MTCC 1303) using standardized disc susceptibility test method recommended by the British Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy(BSAC). The activity was measured in terms of zone of inhibition in mm. Also Mouse fibroblast 3T3 L1 cell lines were used to measure cytotoxic activity. Minimum cell viability was shown by sample of 10 mg/ml concentration of the epidermal mucus. Result: The ethanol extract exhibited a bactericidal activity and inhibited the growth of Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Shigellaboydii and E.coli. The dichloromethane exhibited activity against Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, E.coli and no activity against Shigellaboydii. The aqueous showed no bactericidal activity for any of the human pathogen tested. These results show the presence of antimicrobial agent and the role of fish byproducts like mucus and epidermis in antimicrobial protection. Conclusion: the present result suggested that the mucus and epidermal extract of Barbonymus schwanenfeldii (Tinfoil barb fish) may be a potent source of antimicrobial agent for human pathogen.