Evaluation of pharmacological activities, cytotoxicity and phenolic composition of four Maytenus species used in southern African traditional medicine to treat intestinal infections and diarrhoeal diseases

dc.contributor.authorAhmed, Aroke Shahid
dc.contributor.authorMcGaw, Lyndy Joy
dc.contributor.authorEloff, Jacobus Nicolaas
dc.contributor.emailkobus.eloff@up.ac.zaen_US
dc.date.accessioned2014-07-09T07:32:16Z
dc.date.available2014-07-09T07:32:16Z
dc.date.issued2013-05
dc.description.abstractBACKGROUND: Microbial infections and resulting inflammation and oxidative stress are common pathogenesis of gastrointestinal tract (GIT) disorders. In South Africa, several species of the genus Maytenus are used in traditional medicine to treat various infectious diseases. Most of the previous work on this genus was focused on nonpolar extracts from the root and bark. In this study, leaf extracts of polar extracts of Maytenus peduncularis, Maytenus procumbens, Maytenus senegalensis and Maytenus undata were evaluated for antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities to determine their efficacy as therapeutic agents in GIT disorders. METHODS: Phenolic-enriched leaf extracts and fractions were prepared by extracting with acidified 70% methanol and solvent-solvent fractionation. The activities of the fractions against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecalis as well as clinical isolates of Aspergillus fumigatus, Candida albicans and Cryptococcus neoformans were determined using a serial microplate dilution method. Antioxidant activities were determined using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2'-azinobis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6- sulphonic acid) (ABTS), hydroxyl (OH) radical scavenging and linoleic acid peroxidation inhibitory assays. The phenolic composition as well as the cytotoxicity against Vero cell lines of the crude extracts was evaluated using various standard protocols. RESULTS: The antimicrobial activities were concentrated in the non-polar fractions of hexane, dichloromethane and ethyl acetate (MICs 19–312 μg/ml). The crude extracts and polar fractions (butanol and water) had moderate to poor antimicrobial activity (MICs 312 to above 2500 μg/ml). The crude extracts and polar fractions had good antioxidant activity (EC50 values varied from 1.22 to 607 μg/ml, 1.71 to 312 μg/ml and 23 to 284 μg/ml for DPPH, ABTS and OH respectively. Linoleic acid peroxidation inhibition EC50 values of the crude extracts ranged between 27 and 39 μg/ml with relatively low toxicity against Vero cell lines (IC50 values 87 to 187 μg/ml). Fractionation of a crude extract with low activity could lead to fractions with more potent activity. CONCLUSION: This study justifies the traditional use of leaf crude extracts and fractions from these four plants to remedy gastrointestinal disorders resulting from infection, inflammation and oxidative stress complications. The study also provides rationale for the use of leaf extracts with same beneficial effects in place of unsustainable root and bark harvest.en_US
dc.description.librarianam2014en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipThe South African Medical Research Councilen_US
dc.description.urihttp://www.biomedcentral.com/bmccomplementalternmeden_US
dc.identifier.citationAhmed, AS, McGaw, LJ & Eloff, JN 2013, 'Evaluation of pharmacological activities, cytotoxicity and phenolic composition of four Maytenus species used in southern African traditional medicine to treat intestinal infections and diarrhoeal diseases', BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, vol. 13, art:100, pp. 1-15.en_US
dc.identifier.issn1472-6882
dc.identifier.other10.1186/1472-6882-13-100
dc.identifier.other55952645400
dc.identifier.other7005589445
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/40675
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherBioMed Centralen_US
dc.rights© 2013 Ahmed et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licenseen_US
dc.subjectMaytenusen_US
dc.subjectInfectionsen_US
dc.subjectDiarrhoeaen_US
dc.subjectCytotoxicityen_US
dc.subjectGastrointestinal tracten_US
dc.titleEvaluation of pharmacological activities, cytotoxicity and phenolic composition of four Maytenus species used in southern African traditional medicine to treat intestinal infections and diarrhoeal diseasesen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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