African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 4 (12), pp. 1452-1457, December 2005          
ISSN 1684–5315 © 2005 Academic Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Antibacterial activity of alkaloids from Sida acuta

Damintoti Karou¹*, Aly Savadogo¹, Antonella Canini², Saydou Yameogo¹, Carla Montesano², Jacques Simpore³, Vittorio Colizzi², Alfred S. Traore¹

¹Centre de Recherche en sciences Biologiques, Alimentaires et Nutritionnelles (CRSBAN) ;UFR / SVT ; Université de Ouagadougou ; 03 BP 7021 Ouagadougou 03, Burkina Faso.

²Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Roma «Tor Vergata», Roma, Italy.

³Laboratoire de Biologie Médicale saint Camille de Ouagadougou ; 01 BP 364 Ouagadougou 01; Burkina Faso.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: damin.karou@univ-ouaga.bf, simplicekarou@hotmail.com, Tel : +226 70 13 24 29.

Accepted 22 September, 2005

Sida acuta is a shrub indigenous to pantropical regions. The plant is widely used for its various pharmacological properties. Among compounds of pharmacological interest occurring in the plant, are indoloquinoline alkaloids. The aim of the present study was to investigate the antimicrobial activity of alkaloids of S. acuta from Burkina Faso. The alkaloids had a good antimicrobial activity against the test microorganisms. In the agar-well diffusion assay, highest inhibition zone diameters were recorded with Gram-positive bacteria. The broth microdilution assay gave minimal inhibitory concentration values ranging from 16 to 400 µg/ml and minimal bactericidal concentration values ranging from 80 to up to 400 µg/ml. The gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of the same alkaloids led to the identification of cryptolepine and quindoline as the major components.

Key words: Cryptolepine, quindoline, indoloquinolines, antibacterial, Sida acuta.