title: Antimicrobial activity of the methanolic bark extract of Holarrhena pubescens (Buch. Ham), its fractions and the pure compound conessine.
abstract: The antimicrobial activity of the methanolic extract of the bark of Holarrhena pubescens, its fractions, and conessine, a steroidal alkaloid, was determined against various bacteria and fungi using the agar diffusion method. They were all found to possess significant activity against some of the bacteria tested. The alkaloidal fraction and conessine also exhibited marginal activity against some of the fungi tested. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value of conessine was determined against various bacteria, and the highest activity was seen against Micrococcus luteus ATCC 9341 (MIC: 15.6 µg per disc).
authors.affiliation: H.E.J. Research Institute of Chemistry, International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi-75270, Pakistan. bina@khi.comsats.net.pk
authors.forename: Bina S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Siddiqui
authors.forename: Syed Tahir
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.forename: Ghazala H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Rizwani
authors.forename: Sabira
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Begum
authors.forename: Saima
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tauseef
authors.forename: Aqeel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ahmad
mesh_terms: D000470:Alkaloids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects; D005658:Fungi / Q000187:drug effects; D035462:Holarrhena / Q000737:chemistry*; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D000432:Methanol / Q000737:chemistry; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D024301:Plant Bark / Q000737:chemistry*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization
chemical_list: D000470:Alkaloids; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts; C007111:conessine; D000432:Methanol