Infectious Diseases

Biography

Biography: Roland N Ndip1, 2, C Njume1, A J Afolayan1 and E Green1

Abstract

The aim of this study was to isolate and identify phytochemicals with anti-Helicobacter pylori activity from the stem bark of Sclerocarya birrea. The plant crude extract was fractionated by silica gel column and thin layer chromatography techniques; initially with ethyl acetate (EA) and subsequently with a combination of ethyl acetate/methanol/water (EMW). Further fractionation and identification of the phyto-constituents was achieved by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis. The antimicrobial activity of the fractions and compounds was evaluated against 5 metronidazole and clarythromycin-resistant strains of H. pylori and a reference strain ATCC 43526 using micro-broth dilution technique. Amoxicillin was included in these experiments as a positive control antibiotic. Sixteen of the 18 fractions collected demonstrated anti-H. pylori activity with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC₅₀) values ranging from 310-2500 µg/mL. Two of the fractions; EMW fraction 6 and EA fraction 1 revealed the presence of 5 and 24 compounds respectively representing 40.5% and 86.57% of the total composition. Most of the compounds were essential oils with terpinen-4-ol being the most abundant agent (35.83 %), followed by pyrrolidine (32.15 %), aromadendrene (13.63%) and α-gujunene (8.77%). MIC₅₀ values for amoxicillin, terpinen-4-ol and pyrrolidine ranged from 0.0003-0.06 µg/mL, 0.004-0.06 µg/mL and 0.005-6.3 µg/mL respectively. The inhibitory activities of terpinen-4-ol and pyrrolidine were similar to amoxicillin (P>0.05). Most of these compounds are being reported in this plant for the first time and may represent new sources of therapeutically useful compounds against H. pylori.