Antimicrobial Effect of Opuntia Ficus-Indica Extract on Escherichia coli Isolated from Patients with Urinary Tract Infection

摘要

Urinary tract infection(UTI) is one of the public health problems worldwide, many organisms, such as viruses, and bacteria cause urinary tract infection, but bacteria are the most common(1, 2). The most important cause of UTI in more than 90% of cases is Escherichia coli particularly in women (3). With the increasing of microbial infections and drug resistance, the side effects of synthetic chemical drugs, the high cost of their preparation, the need for finding antimicrobials with high-efficacy against microorganisms causing UTI is inevitable today(4). The Opuntia ficusindica belongs to Cactaceae family, a tropical and subtropical plant, and a medicinal herb which has traditionally been used for medical, therapeutic, and pharmaceutical use such as hepatoprotective anti-ulcerogenic, antioxidant, neuroprotective, and anticancer activities (5).