“Actividad anti-biofilm de los extractos de plantas Urtica dioica L., Ilex guayusa Y Uncaria tomentosa EN Staphylococcus aureus.”

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus, which is part of the habitual microbiota of skin and mucous membranes, often generates bacterial infections in patients carrying biomedical devices, increasing the rate of resistance to antibiotics due to the ability to produce biofilm or biofilms thanks to the presence of Bap proteins, reason the present work focuses on evaluating the properties of medicinal plants found in the extensive flora of Ecuador. For the in vitro test, we worked from ethanolic extracts obtained by maceration of 3 medicinal plants: Ilex guayusa (leaves), Uncaria tomentosa (bark) and Urtica dioica (leaves). The antimicrobial activity was determined by means of the well diffusion technique, obtaining halos of inhibition of 7mm, 9mm and 7mm, respectively and it is correlated in microtiter plates evaluating its inhibition based on concentrations of 80 mg/mL for I. guayusa, 50 mg/mL for U. tomentosa and U. dioica showing at the end of 24 h. a significant difference in the inhibition of bacterial growth.

To evaluate the anti-biofilm activity of the extracts against S. aureus producing biofilm, it was carried out by staining with 1% violet crystal, where 2 of the 3 plants under study inhibited their formation with a percentage higher than 50%, in concentrations of 5; 2.5 and 1.25 mg/Μl. Statistical analysis of data was performed using an analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey test using the SPSS data package, obtaining a significance <0.05 which allows us to accept the alternative hypothesis.