Antibacterial Activity of Ethanolic Extracts Obtained from Roots and Stems of Chelidonium majus L. Against Enterococcus Faecalis Strains

Abstract

The present study is in vitro research aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of the ethanolic extracts derived from roots and stems of Chelidonium majus L. against two Enterococcus faecalis strains to assess the possible use of this plant in preventing infections caused by this pathogen. Plant materials were harvested from natural habitats on the territory of the Kartuzy district in the Pomeranian province (northern part of Poland). The collected roots and stems were brought into the laboratory for antimicrobial studies. Freshly washed samples were weighed, crushed, and homogenized in 96 % ethanol (in proportion 1:19, w/w) at room temperature. The extracts were then filtered and investigated for their antimicrobial activity. The Enterococcus faecalis (Andrewes and Horder) Schleifer and Kilpper-Balz (ATCC^®51299™) and linezolid-resistant Enterococcus faecalis strain locally isolated were used in the current study. The antimicrobial susceptibility testing was done on Muller-Hinton agar by Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion susceptibility test protocol. The results of the current study showed that C. majus possess weak antimicrobial properties against the tested Enterococcus faecalis strains. The ethanolic extracts derived from roots of C. majus collected from rural areas exhibited the maximum antimicrobial activity against linezolid-resistant E. faecalis strain (the mean of inhibition zone diameters was 8.85±0.42 mm) compared to the control samples (7.1 ±0.91 mm). Stem extracts derived from C. majus collected from rural areas showed similar properties against the Enterococcus faecalis (Andrewes and Horder) Schleifer and Kilpper-Balz (ATCC^®51299™) strain (8.77 ±1.21 mm) compared to the control samples. Root extracts derived from C. majus collected from urban and rural areas exhibited weak antibacterial ability against linezolid-resistant E. faecalis strains (6.46±0.32 mm and 7.78 ±0.34 mm, respectively), as well as weak antibacterial ability against E. faecalis ATCC^®51299™strains (7.9 ±1.08 mm and 7.97±0.85 mm, respectively) compared to the control sample (7.1 ±0.99 mm). The results of this study can induce to provide a new perspective for the use of various Papaveraceae families as medicinal plants to improve the antibacterial responses using other strains. Identification of precise molecular mechanisms responsible for inhibition of bacterial growth by these extracts requires further research.