In Vitro Antibacterial Activity of Selected Palestinian Medicinal Plants against Chlamydia trachomatis
Date
2021-08-08
Authors
Hamarsheh, Omar
Amro, Ahmad
Al-Zeer, Munir A.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
MDPI
Abstract
Chlamydia spp. are intracellular pathogens of humans and animals that cause a wide
range of diseases such as blinding trachoma and sexually transmitted infections. According to
the World Health Organization (WHO), there are more than 127 million new infections each year
worldwide. Chlamydial urogenital infections can cause cervicitis, urethritis, pelvic inflammatory
disease and infertility. From within an intracellular niche, termed an inclusion, the Chlamydiae
complete their life cycle shielded from host defenses. The host cell defense response used to eliminate
the pathogen must subvert this protective shield and is thought to involve the gamma interferon-
inducible family of immunity related GTPase proteins and nitric oxide. Typically, azithromycin
and doxycycline are the first line drugs for the treatment of chlamydial infections. Although C.
trachomatis is sensitive to these antibiotics in vitro, currently, there is increasing bacterial resistance to
antibiotics including multidrug-resistant C. trachomatis, which have been described in many instances.
Therefore, alternative drug candidates against Chlamydia should be assessed in vitro. In this study,
we tested and quantified the activity of plant extracts against Chlamydia-infected HeLa cells with
C. trachomatis inclusions. The in vitro results show that post-treatment with Artemisia inculta Delile
extract significantly inhibits Chlamydia infection compared to DMSO-treated samples. In conclusion,
plant extracts may contain active ingredients with antichlamydial activity potential and can be used as
alternative drug candidates for treatment of Chlamydia infection which has significant socio-economic
and medical impact.
Description
Keywords
antibacterial activity , Chlamydia trachomatis , medicinal plants , Palestine
Citation
Hamarsheh, O.; Amro, A.; Al-Zeer, M.A. In Vitro Antibacterial Activity of Selected Palestinian Medicinal Plants against Chlamydia trachomatis. Microbiol. Res. 2021, 12, 656–662. https://doi.org/10.3390/ microbiolres12030047