title: Antimicrobial activity of some medicinal plants from the cerrado of the centralwestern region of Brazil.
abstract: Ethanol extracts from six selected species from the Cerrado of the Central-Western region of Brazil, which are used in traditional medicine for the treatment of infectious diseases and other medical conditions, namely Erythroxylum suberosum St. Hil. (Erythroxylaceae), Hyptis crenata Pohl. ex Benth. (Lamiaceae), Roupala brasiliensis Klotz. (Proteaceae), Simarouba versicolor St. Hil. (Simaroubaceae), Guazuma ulmifolia Lam. (Sterculiaceae) and Protium heptaphyllum (Aubl.) March. (Burseraceae), as well as fractions resulting from partition of these crude extracts, were screened in vitro for their antifungal and antibacterial properties. The antimicrobial activities were assessed by the broth microdilution assay against six control fungal strains, Candida albicans, C. glabrata, C. krusei, C. parapsilosis, C. tropicalis and Cryptococcus neoformans, and five control Gram-positive and negative bacterial strains, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. Toxicity of the extracts and fractions against Artemia salina was also evaluated in this work. All plants investigated showed antimicrobial properties against at least one microorganism and two species were also significantly toxic to brine shrimp larvae. The results tend to support the traditional use of these plants for the treatment of respiratory and gastrointestinal disorders and/or skin diseases, opening the possibility of finding new antimicrobial agents from these natural sources. Among the species investigated, Hyptis crenata, Erythroxylum suberosum and Roupala brasiliensis were considered the most promising candidates for developing of future bioactivity-guided phytochemical investigations.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul , Campo Grande, MS , Brasil ; Departamento de Farmácia, Universidade de Cuiabá , Cuiabá, MT , Brasil.
authors.forename: Ivana Maria Póvoa
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Violante
authors.forename: Lidilhone
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hamerski
authors.forename: Walmir Silva
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Garcez
authors.forename: Ana Lucia
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Batista
authors.forename: Marilene Rodrigues
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Vali Joana
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Pott
authors.forename: Fernanda Rodrigues
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Garcez
keywords: Antibacterial; Antifungal; Antimicrobial; Artemia salina; Cerrado
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