Amazonian plant crude extract screening for activity against multidrug-resistant bacteria

A.F. Correia 1, J.F.O. Segovia 2, M.C.A. Gonçalves 3, V.L. de Oliveira 1, D. Silveira 1, J.C.T. Carvalho 3, L.I.B. Kanzaki 1

1 Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Brasília,
Brasilia (DF Brazil)
2 The Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, Rodovia Juscelino Kubitschek, Fazendinha, Macapá (AP Brazil)
3 Laboratory of Drugs, Federal University of Amapá Campus Universitário Marco Zero do Equador, Jardim Marco Zero, Macapá (AP Brasil)

---

• Pharmacology

Abstract. – Antimicrobial resistance is a subject of great concern in public health and also in the designing of strategies for current therapeutic protocols all over the world. New drugs, including those necessary for a reserve armamentarium and exhibiting less side effects deserve special attention. In rural areas, particularly in Brazil, a huge number of natural products, in different artisanal preparations, mainly from plants, have been used by traditional populations to cure diseases. Despite some of these plants have been studied, many of them are awaiting to have their compounds chemically characterized and investigated their pharmacodynamics properties. Further, as well known, the environment plays a crucial role in the metabolism of these plants, yielding different and varied molecular complexes depending on the period of collection, climate conditions, kind of soil and also the plant speciation.
In this report, ethanol crude extract of 10 different botanical specimens from the Amazon region of Brazil, in the Amapa State, were screened for antibacterial activity of 7 clinical resistant microorganisms utilizing as control ATCC bacterial species by the Kirby-Bauer method. Plant extracts of Geissospermum argenteum, Uncaria guianensis, Brosimum acutifolium, Copaifera reticulate, Licania macrophylla, Ptycopetalum olacoides and Dalbergia subcymosa yielded activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, both multidrug resistant, and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC strain.

Corresponding Author: Luis Isamu Barros Kanzaki, D.Sc.; e-mail: kanzaki@unb.br