title: Screening of some New Caledonian and Vanuatu medicinal plants for antimycobacterial activity.
abstract: Twenty plants, belonging to sixteen families, used in traditional New Caledonian and Vanuatu medicine for treatment of symptoms potentially related to tuberculosis (cough, fever or inflammation) were screened for antimycobacterial activity. We also screened an original endemic plant, Amborella trichopoda, only member of the monogeneric family Amborellaceae and considered the most primitive living angiosperm. In total, 55 extracts were evaluated for inhibitory activity against Mycobacterium bovis BCG strain at a concentration of 100 microg/ml. Methanolic and dichloromethane extracts of Amborella trichopoda, Codiaeum peltatum, Myristica fatua, and essential oils Myoporum crassifolium showed an activity at this concentration. Methanolic extract of Amborella trichopoda fruits presented a significant activity with a minimal inhibitory concentration included between 1 and 2.5 microg/ml. In the same conditions, this activity was comparable with those of the reference drugs pyrazynamide and ethambutol, at 20 and 2.5 microg/ml, respectively.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Pharmacognosie (Associé au CNRS-BioCIS), Faculté de Pharmacie, Université Paris-Sud, rue J.B. Clément, 92296 Châtenay-Malabry Cédex, France.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Billo
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cabalion
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Waikedre
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fourneau
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bouttier
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hocquemiller
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fournet
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; D008519:Medicine, Traditional; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D009163:Mycobacterium bovis / Q000187:drug effects; D009510:New Caledonia; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology; D009514:Vanuatu
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts