Phytochemical Analysis and in-vitro Antimicrobial Activities of Crude Extracts of Aloe barbadensis (Aloevera) Leaf on Microorganisms Isolated from Surgical Wound Patients at Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), South-Eastern, Nigeria

摘要

Surgical site infection (SSI) is the commonest hospital acquired infection in surgical patients globally. It has remained a major cause of morbidity and mortality and a major source of worry to both the patients, doctors, hospitals and the community as a whole. This present study was aimed to investigate the phytochemical analysis and in-vitro antimicrobial activities of crude ethanol and methanol extracts of the Aloe barbadensis (Aloevera) leaf on five clinical wound isolates (Staphylococcus auerus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans). This was a cross-sectional study involving 200 randomly recruited surgical patients between October and November, 2015 at Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi. Pre-tested, interviewer administered questionnaires and laboratory test results were used to collect data, which were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 20. The antimicrobial activities of the leaf extracts were evaluated using agar diffusion. The Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Bactericidal/Fungicidal Concentration (MBC/MFC) of the plant extracts were also determined by agar dilution methods respectively. Two standard strains of Staphylococcus auerus (NCTC6571) and Escherichia coli (NCTC10418) were included, as control organisms respectively. The phytochemical constituents of the leaf extracts were carried out using standard methods. The prevalence of surgical site infection (SSI) was 17.5% (or 35 of 200) among the participants. Staphylococcus aureus was the commonest isolated organism (16 of 35, 46.0%). There was no significant relationship (p < 0.001) between the development of SSI and socio-demographic characteristics. The Aloe barbadensis extracts showed lower antimicrobial activity than the commercially available antibiotics (ciprofloxacin and fluconazole) while Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) was used as a negative control. The efficacy of the extracts towards inhibition of the micro organisms increased with concentrations. Qualitative phytochemical analysis detected the presence of tannins, reducing sugar, saponins and flavonoids in all plant extracts. In conclusion, this leaf extracts could be used as a broad spectrum antibiotics in the treatment of wound infections since it has antimicrobial effects on bacterial and fungal pathogens. Improving on the surgical techniques in the hospital setting is necessary to minimize the rate of hospital acquired infections.