Antibacterial activity of Cassia abbreviata oliv roots against Neisseria gonorrhoeae: A potential traditional medicine for the treatment of sexually transmitted infections

Abstract

Traditional medicines are useful in the management of various diseases, especially in low- and middle-income countries. This study analysed the antibacterial activity of Cassia abbreviata Oliv roots against Neisseria gonorrhoeae. This was a laboratory-based study in which the extracts of Cassia abbreviata Oliv roots were tested against Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Additionally, the extracts of Cassia abbreviata Oliv roots were combined with tetracycline to determine their synergistic effect. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS version 22.0. All extracts were active against Neisseria gonorrhoeae, with a minimum inhibitory concentration of 125 µg/ml for the ethanol and 62.5 µg/ml for the aqueous extract. Despite both extracts having antibacterial activity against Neisseria gonorrhoeae, their effect were lower than that of tetracycline. There was an increase in activity when tetracycline was combined with aqueous extract. This study demonstrated that traditional medicines should be studied further for use in drug discovery, especially with increasing resistance to conventional antibiotics.