SCREENING OF ANTIBACTERIAL PROPERTIES OF INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS AGAINST MULTI DRUG RESISTANT DIABETIC FOOT ULCER ISOLATES 

ABSTRACT

                Fifteen percent of all diabetic patients develop a foot ulcer at some point in their lives, which is highly susceptible to infection. Diabetic foot infection is polymicrobial in nature; most of the bacteria have multidrug resistance. Thus, there is a need for new treatment strategies and recently much attention have been paid to extracts and biologically active compounds isolated from plant species. Crude extract from five different medicinal plants (Ficus racemosa, Gymnema slyvestre, Cinnamomum zeylancium, Terminalia chebula and Momordica charantia) were studied for their antibacterial activity against the multidrug resistant isolates of diabetic foot ulcer along with controls by agar dilution method. Partial purification was carried out for effective antimicrobial active plant. Among the plant extracts, highest antibacterial activity were expressed by T. chebula, followed by F. racemosa, G. slyvestre, C. zeylancium and M. charantia and the minimum inhibitory concentration of T. chebula against the DFU isolates were between as 0.5-4mg/ml. Partial purification of T. chebula was carried out by chromatographic techniques. Gallic acid was found to be the principle compound for antibacterial activity determined by HPLC. Development of newer formulation from T.  chebula could be considered as an alternative therapeutic strategy for the management of diabetic foot infections.

Keywords:- Terminalia chebula, Gallic acid, Medicinal plant, Antibacterial activity, Plant extract, Diabetic foot ulcer.