Simarouba gluca Leaf Extract as a Potential Antimicrobial against Antibiotic Resistant Environmental Isolates of Escherichia coli

Author: Adithya S.B., Hareesh P.S. and Ramya R. Prabhu

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Abstract

The emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria is posing a challenge and threat to the environment; especially their prevalence in water bodies. One of the most prevalent bacteria in water bodies is E. coli which is usually found in the gastrointestinal tract of animals. This is a pilot study carried out from January 2022 to July 2022, whose major challenge was to identify the presence of such antibiotic resistant E. coli in surface waters of a polluted river namely Killi river, a major river in Trivandrum district. The isolated bacteria were confirmed to be E. coli by biochemical and molecular analysis. Then we were interested to look for a potential plant extract which can act as a natural remedy against such multi drug resistant environmental isolates. With this aim in mind, methanolic extract of the leaves of the paradise tree, Simarouba gluca was prepared, the qualitative phytochemical composition analysed and confirmed by TLC. The antibacterial effect of the extract was studied using the agar diffusion method and it showed that the methanolic extract of S. gluca exhibited good antimicrobial activity against antibiotic resistant E. coli. This study is the first of its kind to have demonstrated the effectiveness of the plant extract of S. gluca as a potent antimicrobial agent against environmental strains of E. coli that are resistant to some of the common antibiotics. The contribution of the study is that it would offer a better option for designing plant based compounds while preparing drugs for combating these kinds of bacteria.

Keywords

S. gluca, Methanolic extract, E. coli, Killi river, Antibiotic resistance, Trivandrum

Conclusion

The pilot study has been successful in isolation and characterisation of antibiotic resistant environmental strains of E. coli from polluted water in a major river of Trivandrum city. In this study, the E. coli isolated, from the four stations of Killi river showed resistance mostly to only penicillin and cephalosporin antibiotics, but it could be a possibility that this study has not identified other bacteria which are resistant to other cephalosporin or carbapenem antibiotics and such antibioticresistant strains could still be present in these waters. This calls for more study and analysis of the surface waters in a major river to see the presence of such bacteria and further suitable intervention as it is highly dependent upon by the citizens. Methanolic extract of S. gluca was found to be highly effective against such environmental isolates of E. coli which is resistant to antibiotics. A major scope is developing the plant extract of S. gluca to a suitable drug formulation as it has shown effectiveness against environmental isolates of the gut bacteria, E. coli.

References

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How to cite this article

Adithya S.B., Hareesh P.S. and Ramya R. Prabhu (2023). Simarouba gluca Leaf Extract as a Potential Antimicrobial against Antibiotic Resistant Environmental Isolates of Escherichia coli. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 15(2): 514-519.