Abstract

Objective: To record hospital- and community-acquired accounts of multidrug resistance (MDR) of two Gram-positive pathogens, Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis), by surveillance, and to evaluate antibacterial potencies of 30 plants with information on ethnomedicinal uses for infectious ailments by the aborigine Kandha tribe of Kalahandi district, Odisha (India), against both pathogens. Methods: Over a period of 6 months bacteria/ strains of S. aureus and E. faecalis were isolated from clinical samples in a teaching hospital and their antibiograms were ascertained using 17 antibiotics of 9 different groups. S. aureus strains were further tested for confirmation if they were methicillin and vancomycin resistant, similarly, E. faecalis strains for vancomycin resistance. Concentrated aqueous and ethanolic extracts of leaves/ barks of 30 plants were used for monitoring their antimicrobial potencies, by the agar-well diffusion method, along with qualitative phytochemical analyses. Results: From the surveillance, both pathogens were found MDR and it was evident that the distribution of MDR strains was more in hospital-acquired than community-acquired samples. Both aqueous and ethanolic extracts of plants, Diospyrous melanoxylon, Woodfordia fruticosa (W. fruticosa), Oroxylum indicum (O. indicum), Dalbergia paniculata and Lantana camara had the most significant in vitro controlling capacity against MDR strains of both bacteria. Further, extracts of Holarrhena antidysenterica, Aspidopterys tomentosa and Argyreia speciosa had moderate antibacterial activities. Ethanolic extracts of L. camara, O. indicum and W. fruticosa contained all the phytochemicals, alkaloids, glycosides, terpenoids, reducing sugars, saponins, tannins, flavonoids and steroids, which could be attributed to the recorded significant antibacterial activity. Conclusions: S. aureus strains have been found as the most widely prevailing pathogens in nosocomial settings, than in community. Plants, L. camara. W. fruticosa, O. indicum and P. santalinus, particularly could be useful for a use as complementary/ supplementary/alternative therapeutic agents against Grampositive pathogens.

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