Antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activities of Olax viridis root bark extracts and fractions

Abstract

Summary: Olax viridis root bark is used in ethnomedicine for management of wound ulcers, diarrhea, venereal disease, craw - craw and ring worm. The anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activities of Olax viridis root bark extracts and fractions are investigated. The pulverized plant material was extracted with hexane (F1) and methanol (F1) in succession in a soxhlet and the extracts fractionated into F3 – F9. All the fractions were screened for activity against some clinical strains of bacteria and fungi. F1 was also screened for anti-inflammatory activity. At 200, 400 and 800 mg/kg (i.p.) F1 showed significant (P<0.05) activity with edema inhibition of 23.08, 14.53 and 42.72 % respectively. The LD₅₀ of F1 was 2154 mg/kg. F1 and F2 showed broad spectrum antibacterial activity, but lacked activity against the fungal species tested. F3 showed very high activity against Bacillus subtillis, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli with MIC values of 400, 350 and 300 μg/ml respectively. F7 and F8 also showed very high and broad spectrum antibacterial activity comparable to ciprofloxacin. This study provides the rationale for some of the traditional uses of the extracts of Olax virids root bark.

Industrial relevance: Inflammatory disorders are a major course of morbidity for the working force throughout the world. Medicinal plants have shown great promise in the management of various inflammatory disorders and have continued to serve as alternative and complementary therapies. Olax viridis root bark has been used in ethnomedicinal management of some inflammatory conditions and this has been validated by the present study. The observed antimicrobial effect of the plant material will be much desirable in the modulation of inflammation caused by microbial inversion. The present work is a step towards the isolation and characterization of lead anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial agents from the extract of Olax viridis, which can be developed into better therapeutic molecules targeted towards some specific inflammatory diseases.