Antimicrobial activity of Tinospora cordifolia extracts against urinary tract infections causing bacteria

Abstract

The frequent, increasing drug resistance among urinary tract infections (UTIs) causing bacteria has made therapy difficult and also lead to greater use of expensive broadspectrum drugs. The aim of the study was to assess the antimicrobial activity of Tinospora cordifolia stem extracts, a broad-spectrum therapeutic plant investigated against bacteria causing UTIs, most common diseases infecting from the neonate to the geriatric age groups. The two isolated uropathogens:1.Gram-negative, Escherichia coli; and 2.Grampositive, Staphylococcus aureus were tested against two standard antibiotics, used as a positive reference to determine the sensitivity of the test strains. The extracts of T. cordifolia were prepared from alcoholic extracts, and water reflux for aqueous extract. The antibacterial activities of extracts were evaluated using the disc diffusion method. The study showed that all three solvent extracts of T. cordifolia reveal different antibacterial activity against both uropathogenic isolates. The antibacterial effect of T. cordifolia, which were observed for zone of inhibition (ZOI) could be arranged in decreasing order as follows: ethanolic (maximum) >methanolic (moderate) >aqueous (poor). The evaluated results reveals that plant extracts have significant potential of antibacterial properties and seems promising for the development of the safe herb derived medicinal preparation for treating UTIs.