Authors : Archana Kulkarni , Seema Nimbarte and Nasreen Jan
Page Nos : 410-416
Description :
Plant essential oils, extracts of medicinal plants, herbs, and spices constitute very potent natural bioactive agents. The antiseptic qualities of plant essential oils have been recognized since antiquity and hence were used in the present study to confirm their antiuropathogenicactivity. Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a serious health problem affecting millions of people worldwide each year. Escherichia coli, belonging to various serotypes, is one of the important causative agent of UTI. In the present study a total of 70 uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) isolates were collected, serotyped and their antibiotic resiliencepattern was studied. The UPEC isolates belonged to 13 different serotypes. Antibiotic resiliencepattern revealed that these UPEC isolates were, resistant to commonly prescribed antibiotics like ampicillin (87.5%), streptomycin (60%), gentamycin (68.5%), kanamycin (72.8%) and erythromycin (71.4%) but showed sensitivity to cefuroxime (72%), nitrofurantoin (72%), norfloxacin (72%), nalidixic acid (69%), tobramycin (69%), tetracycline (65.8%). The results indicate that most UPEC isolates were resistant to 4 – 5 antibiotics. The emergence of such multidrug resistant (MDR) bacteria demands the use of an alternative green source and traditional method to combat drug resistance. In view of this the essential oils of tea tree, thyme, fennel and pine were assessed for their in-vitro bactericidal efficacy against UPEC. The bactericidal activity of the whole oils was assessed by using disc diffusion method and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). Tea tree oil exhibited higher activity than thyme followed by fennel and pine oil against UPEC. The result of the bioassay showed that essential oils possess potent bactericidal property.
