Abstract

Coptis chinensis, Andrographis paniculata, Isatis Radix, Lonicera japonica Thunb, andSenecionis Scandentis are traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) widely used in China and eastern Asia for treatment of "warm diseases", including infectious diseases. They are main ingredients in many popular TCM formulas for "warm diseases". This study is to evaluate the antibacterial activity of C. chinensis, A. paniculata, I. indigotica, L. japonica Thunb, and S. scandentis, as well as the formulas containing these medicinal herbs. Those are commonly used medicinal plants from China used as cold, flu, and infectious diseases remedies. We have screened those medicinal herbs as well as five TCM formulas containing these herbs against four bacterial strains, Staphylococcus aureus (SA), Bacillus atrophaeus (BA),Escherichia coli O157:H7 (EC) and Shigella dysenteriae (SD). Our results showed that the tested medicinal plants and the TCM formulas have moderate antibacterial activity against SA, BA, SD and weak activity against EC. At higher concentration, they showed bactericidal activity. The findings support the use of the tested medicinal herbs and formulas to prevent and treat bacterial infections.

Key words: Antibacterial activity, traditional Chinese medicine, infectious disease.

Abbreviation

TCM, traditional Chinese medicine; CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; URIs, upper respiratory tract infections; OTC, over the counter; NB, nutrition broth; LB, lubria broth; UV, ultraviolet; NSRDEC, Natick Soldier Research Development and Engineering Center; ATCC, American Type Culture Collection; BA, Bacillus atrophaeus; SD,Shigella dysenteriae; EC, Escherichia coli O157:H7; SA, Staphylococcus aureus; LF,Lonicera Flower; IR, Isatidis Radix; AN, Andrographis Paniculata; RC, Rhizoma coptid; SS,Senecionis Scandentis; OD, optical density; TOA, top overlay agarose; MIC, minimum inhibition concentration; MDA, micro-broth dilution assay; SBM, suitable bacterial-medium;SFDA, State Food and Drug Administration of PRC; DMSO, dimethylsulfoxide.