Antimicrobial activity of Nigella sativa oil against multi-drug resistant Staphylococcus aureus obtained from clinical specimens.

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Aligarh Muslim University
Antimicrobial activity of Nigella sativa oil
against multi-drug resistant Staphylococcus
aureus obtained from clinical specimens.   Mohd.
Tariq Salman, Rahat Ali Khan and Indu
Shukla Departments of Pharmacology and
Microbiology Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College
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Introduction

• Traditional healers have long used plants to
  prevent/cure infective conditions.
• Nigella sativa L. (Kalonji) has been used for
  centuries for treatment of various ailments,
  including infections.
• Its seeds, commonly used in recipes in Asian
  countries are reported to possess many medicinal
  properties.
• Its crude extracts, oil possess antibacterial
  activity against many pathogenic bacteria,
  especially Gram ve bacteria.
• Objective To study effect of N. sativa essential
  oil against sensitive and multidrug resistant
  strains of Staphylococcus aureus

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Materials and Methods

• N. Sativa oil (Mohammedia products, Hyderabad)
  was tested in various dilutions by disc agar
  diffusion technique using impregnated filter
  paper discs on inoculated Muellar Hinton agar
  plates against 54 strains of S. aureus obtained
  from pus, blood, conjunctival swab, cervical
  swab, ear discharge, semen or CSF of patients
  attending J.N. Medical College Hospital, Aligarh
  during 2003 and 2004.
• Out of the clinical isolates taken, 11 were
  resistant to 1-3 antibiotics, 16 to 4-6
  antibiotics, 16 to 7-9 antibiotics, 3 to 10-12
  antibiotics, 5 to 13-15 antibiotics and 1 to 16
  antibiotics.
• Resistance was highest to Amikacin, followed by
  Tetracycline, Cotrimoxazole, Ciprofloxacin,
  Ampicillin, Ceftriaxone, Tobramycin, Gentamicin,
  Erythromycin and Cefotaxime.

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Effect of N. sativa oil against strains obtained
from Pus Mean diameters of zones of inhibition
in mm around 6 mm discs impregnated with Oil
S. no Conc. Of oil in disc Conc. Of oil in disc Conc. Of oil in disc No. of antibiotics to which the strain is resistant
S. no 11 110 150 No. of antibiotics to which the strain is resistant
1 16 - - 9
2 34 24 - 6
3 20 14 9 6
4 24 16 8 7
5 28 8 - 5
6 16 16 16 8
7 14 - - 7
8 24 12 - 16
9 36 11 - 13
10 32 16 16 9
11 - - - 5
12 24 20 12 5
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S. no Conc. Of oil in disc Conc. Of oil in disc Conc. Of oil in disc No. of antibiotics to which the strain is resistant
S. no 11 110 150 No. of antibiotics to which the strain is resistant
13 12 10 - 9
14 26 - - 15
15 20 - - 11
16 24 16 10 5
17 18 - - 8
18 12 9 - 6
19 - - - 7
20 8 - - 8
21 16 - - 5
22 14 10 10 5
23 20 14 9 6
24 40 12 - 5
25 16 - - 3
26 42 - - 1
27 28 28 11 3
28 26 24 12 1
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Effect of N. sativa oil against strains obtained
from Blood Mean diameters of zones of inhibition
in mm around 6 mm discs impregnated with Oil
S. no Conc. Of oil in disc Conc. Of oil in disc Conc. Of oil in disc No. of antibiotics to which the strain is resistant
S. no 11 110 150 No. of antibiotics to which the strain is resistant
1 37 24 10 2
2 30 8 - 4
3 42 14 12 4
4 - - - 8
5 46 12 - 8
6 - - - 8
7 14 8 8 3
8 32 16 9 1
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Effect of N. sativa oil against strains obtained
from Cervical swab Mean diameters of zones of
inhibition in mm around 6 mm discs impregnated
with Oil
S. no Conc. Of oil in disc Conc. Of oil in disc Conc. Of oil in disc No. of antibiotics to which the strain is resistant
S. no 11 110 150 No. of antibiotics to which the strain is resistant
1 - - - 10
2 - - - 3
3 24 20 20 3
4 20 14 10 8
5 20 16 12 6
6 16 10 - 0
7 16 - - 4
8 30 12 - 1
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Effect of N. sativa oil against strains obtained
from other clinical specimens (Conjunctival swab,
CSF, Ear discharge and Semen) . Mean diameters
of zones of inhibition in mm around 6 mm discs
impregnated with Oil
S. no Conc. Of oil in disc Conc. Of oil in disc Conc. Of oil in disc No. of antibiotics to which the strain is resistant
S. no 11 110 150 No. of antibiotics to which the strain is resistant
1 20 20 16 7
2 20 20 8 15
3 20 20 12 12
4 12 - - 15
5 28 20 14 1
6 24 12 8 6
7 11 - - 3
8 10 10 - 8
9 14 12 - 9
10 30 25 9 3
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Results

• The oil was active against 50 strains
• Activity was seen
• Upto a dilution of 150 in 22 strains
• Upto a dilution of 110 in 14 strains
• Only in undiluted state in 14 strains.
• Conclusion Nigella sativa oil is active against
  sensitive as well as multi-drug resistant strains
  of Staphylococcus aureus and may be used
  therapeutically in susceptible cases.