title: Antimicrobial activity of the ornamental species Salvia corrugata, a potential new crop for extractive purposes.
abstract: As a part of our search for biologically active compounds from cultivated Salvia spp. we investigated Salvia corrugata Vahl. The activity of two isolated icetaxane diterpene quinones, fruticuline A and demethylfruticuline A, was assessed against 46 bacterial pathogens, mostly resistant to several primary antibiotics. The MIC for all the inhibited Gram-positive pathogens tested showed a very narrow distribution and ranged from 32 to 64 mg/L, regardless of their resistance patterns to other antibiotics. Demethylfruticuline A was shown to be highly bactericidal (>3 log(10) CFU decrease within 24 h) against Staphylococcus aureus and S. epidermidis and bacteriostatic against Enterococcus faecalis and E. faecium. Fruticuline A manifested bacteriostatic activity against all tested strains. S. corrugata can be viewed as an interesting source for these diterpenes, which, if well tolerated in vivo, may represent new medical agents useful for the treatment of serious infections caused by resistant Gram-positive pathogens.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Chimica e Tecnologie Farmaceutiche e Alimentari, Universita di Genova, Genova, Italy. bisio@dictfa.unige.it
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bisio
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Romussi
authors.forename: Eleonora
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Russo
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cafaggi
authors.forename: Anna Maria
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Schito
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Repetto
authors.forename: Nunziatina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: De Tommasi
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004224:Diterpenes / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry; D027544:Salvia / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D004224:Diterpenes; D010936:Plant Extracts; C539555:demethylfruticuline A; C539554:fruticuline A