A Systematic Review of Activity of Medicinal Plants from Sub-Saharan Africa against spp.

INTRODUCTION

spp. are zoonotic bacteria that cause gastroenteritis in humans and may cause extraintestinal infections such as Guillain-Barré syndrome, reactive arthritis, and bacteremia. Resistance to antibiotics is an increasing concern in the Sub-Saharan Africa; thus, search for alternatives such as plant-based active ingredients is important in order to develop new drugs.

OBJECTIVES

To present a systematic review of and studies of the antibacterial activity of medicinal plants from Sub-Saharan Africa against spp. . Studies published until March 2020 on medicinal plants used against spp. from each country of Sub-Saharan Africa were searched on PubMed, Science Direct, AJOL, and Google Scholar. Articles were selected based on the existence of information regarding and activity of medicinal plants against spp.

RESULTS

A total of 47 medicinal plants belonging to 28 families were studied for activity against spp. No plant was studied Plants from Fabaceae family were the most commonly studied. The plants with the strongest antimicrobial activities were and . The root extracts from these plants were effective, and both had a minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 25 g/ml. Seven pure compounds were isolated and analyzed for activity against spp. The compound cryptolepine from was the most effective with MIC values ranging between 6.25 and 25 g/ml.

CONCLUSION

Several native plants from the Sub-Saharan Africa region were studied for activity against spp. Some plants seemed very effective against the bacteria. Chemical compounds from three plants have been isolated and analyzed, but further studies are needed in order to produce new and effective drugs.