title: Antibiotic screening of medicinal plants of the British Columbian native peoples.
abstract: One hundred methanolic plant extracts, 96 of which had documented medicinal uses by British Columbian native peoples, were screened for antibiotic activity against 11 bacterial strains. Eighty-five percent were found to have significant antibiotic activity against at least two of the bacteria tested. Ninety-five percent of the plants categorized as potential antibiotics based on their ethnobotanical usage were found to exhibit significant antibiotic activity. Seventy-five were found to be active against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, 46 were active against an antibiotic supersusceptible strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and 18 of these were also active against a wild type strain. The extracts with the broadest spectra of activity were prepared from: Alnus rubra bark and catkins, Fragaria chiloensis leaves, Moneses uniflora aerial parts, and Rhus glabra branches.
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: McCutcheon
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Ellis
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Hancock
authors.forename: G H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Towers
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects*; D001955:British Columbia; D006801:Humans; D008519:Medicine, Traditional; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010946:Plants, Medicinal
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts