Evaluation of antibacterial activity of ethanolic and aqueous leaf extract of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis in mice

Abstract

Infectious diseases are the second leading cause of death worldwide, killing almost 50,000 people every day. The world wide emergence of multidrug resistant Escherichia coli and many other β- lactamase producers has become a major therapeutic problem (Khan et al., 2004). The development of bacterial resistance to presently available antibiotics has necessitated the search for the new antibacterial agents. Many infectious diseases have been known to be treated with herbal remedies throughout the history of mankind. In rural and backward areas of India, several plants are commonly used as herbal medicine for treatment of infectious diseases. Hibiscus rosa-sinensis commonly found plants were screened for potential antibacterial activity. The present study was conducted to evaluate the In-vitro and In-vivo evaluation of antibacterial activity of ethanolic and aqueous leaf extract of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis in mice. In-vitro activity of ethanolic and aqueous leaf extract of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis at concentration of 50, 100 and 200 mg/ml was tested against E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus using agar well diffusion method and was compare with penicillin and gentamicin. Ethanolic leaf extracts showed higher inhibitory activity compared to aqueous extract at 50 and 100 mg/ml concentration. MIC value of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis was found to be 2.5 and 5 mg respectively. Ethanolic extract of Murraya koengii effectively inhibited growth of E. coli and staphylococcus aureus and significantly reduced the mouse mortality.