title: In vitro antibacterial and antifungal activities of Rhus tripartitum used as antidiarrhoeal in Tunisian folk medicine.
abstract: Rhus tripartitum (African sumac) is a plant commonly used in Tunisian traditional medicine to treat diarrhoea and dysentery. In this study, we have demonstrated that R. tripartitum extracts exhibited a significant broad spectrum activity against one or more of the test microorganisms with a zone size ranging from 8 to 28 mm in diameter. These diameters are much higher than those obtained with standard antibiotics. The chloroformic extracts were found to be effective against bacterial and fungal strains tested, with MIC values ranging between 0.07 and 0.62 mg mL(-1) against Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans. However, ethyl-acetate/methanol fractions showed a selective activity only against bacterial microorganisms with low MIC values between 0.07 and 0.15 mg mL(-1). The overall results suggested that the traditional use of R. tripartitum for the treatment of diarrhoea tract infections was attributed to the presence of antibacterial agents.
authors: Laboratoire de Biochimie, Faculté de Médecine de Sousse, 4002 Sousse, Tunisia. abbassifeten@yahoo.fr
authors: Feten
authors: F
authors: Abbassi
authors: Khaled
authors: K
authors: Hani
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000930:Antidiarrheals / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000187:drug effects; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects; D016488:Medicine, African Traditional; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D035261:Plant Components, Aerial / Q000737:chemistry; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000737:chemistry; D029045:Rhus / Q000737:chemistry*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects; D014416:Tunisia
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000930:Antidiarrheals; D000935:Antifungal Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts