Abstract:
Abstract
Background: Medicinal plants play indispensible roles to treat various ailments. Acanthus
polystachus (“Kosheshile” in Amharic) is one of the medicinal plants used traditionally for
treatment of wound and bacterial infections. However, to date, no scientific report could be found
concerning the wound healing & antibacterial activities. Thus, the present study provides a
scientific evaluation for the antibacterial and wound healing potential of the crude and solvent
fractions of Acanthus polystachus leaves.
Methods: The crude extraction was carried out using 80% methanol and fractionated by
chloroform, ethyl acetate followed by distilled water in increasing polarity. The antibacterial
activity was evaluated using agar well diffusion &broth dilution techniques. The crude extract was
prepared in 5% (w/w) and 10% (w/w) ointment & evaluated for wound healing activity using
excision, infected & incision model in mice. The data was analyzed using Statistical Package for
Social Sciences (SPSS version 20). One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Tukey test
was employed & P-value <0.05 considered statistically significant.
Results: The crude extract, ethyl acetate & aqueous fractions showed significant dose dependent
antibacterial activities against against S. aureus, S. pyogen and P. aeruginosa at 250 & 500mg/ml
concentrations (P <0.001). The most susceptible bacterium to crude extract was S. aureus with
mean zone of inhibition 16.33 & 15.00 mm at 500 & 250mg/ml respectively. Similarly, in ethyl
acetate & aqueous fractions S. pyogen & P. aeruginosa were more susceptible (at 500 mg/ml) with
mean zone of inhibition 14 & 11.67 mm respectively. Furthermore, only the crude extract &
chloroform fraction revealed antibacterial activity against K .pneumonia. However, E. coli was
not susceptible to the crude extract & all solvent fractions. Both 5% & 10% (w/w) ointments
exhibited significantly reduced period of epithelialization, increased wound contraction rate &
tensile strength compared to the negative control group (P<0.05). Better wound healing activity
was observed in 10% (w/w) than 5% (w/w) & nitrofurazone ointment treated groups however the
difference was failed to reach statistical significance.
Conclusion: These results collectively demonstrate that the crude extract & solvent fractions of A.
polystachus leaves possesses antibacterial activities. Besides, the crude extract facilitated wound
healing probably via its antibacterial activity; this justifies the traditional claimed use of the plant
for treating wound and bacterial infections.
