Antimicrobial, antioxidant and cytotoxicity studies of medicinal plants used in the treatment of sexually transmitted diseases

Abstract

CONTEXT : The World Health Organization reported that more than 1 million sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are acquired daily, with an estimated 357 million new infections caused by either chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis or trichomoniasis. Aim: The present study was aimed to evaluate antimicrobial, antioxidant and cytotoxicity activities of ethanol extracts of ten ethnobotanical selected plant species used to treat STD’s and related symptoms. Methods: The determination of antimicrobial susceptibility of plant extracts was done using the broth micro-dilution assay against five microorganisms. The free radical scavenging activity was determined by using DPPH (2, 2-diphenyly-1-picrylhydrazyl). Cytotoxicity activity of the plant extracts was done on Vero African monkey cells lines with 2, 3-bis [2-methoxy-4-nitro-5-sulfophenyl]-2H-tetrazolium-5-carboxanilide (XTT) reagents. Results: Our results suggest that extracts of Acacia karroo and Rhoicissus tridentata subsp. cuneifolia are potential candidates with a good antimicrobial, antioxidant and low cytotoxicity activities. This results may support the anecdotal claims for the use of the selected plant species to treat venereal diseases.