title: Screening of seven selected Rwandan medicinal plants for antimicrobial and antiviral activities.
abstract: Aqueous EtOH (80%) extracts of seven plants used by Rwandan traditional healers to treat infections, were screened for antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral activities. Only two of the selected plants showed a true antiviral activity against herpes simplex virus type 1, while all of them exhibited virucidal properties against several enveloped viruses including herpes simplex, measles, Semliki forest, and vesicular stomatitis viruses. Four plants were diversely active against gram-positive bacteria, two of these showing bactericidal effect against the acid-fast Mycobacterium fortuitum. None of the selected plants was active against gram-negative bacteria or the yeast Candida albicans. From a bioassay-guided fractionation procedure using herpes simplex virus type I as the target model, a virucidal mixture, the maesasaponin mixture A, was isolated from the MeOH extract of Maesa lanceolata. The maesasaponin mixture A exhibited a virucidal activity against herpes simplex types 1 and 2, and vesicular stomatitis viruses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Antwerp (UIA), Belgium.
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Sindambiwe
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Calomme
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cos
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Totté
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pieters
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vlietinck
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vanden Berghe
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical / Q000379:methods; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000737:chemistry*; D012432:Rwanda
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D000935:Antifungal Agents; D000998:Antiviral Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts