Anti-HIV-1 integrase activity of medicinal plants used as self medication by AIDS patients

The extracts of selected medicinal plants used as self medication by AIDS patients were investigated for their inhibitory activities against HIV-1 integrase (HIV-1 IN) using the multiplate integration assay (MIA). Of these, the water extract of Eclipta prostrata (whole plant) exhibited the most potent inhibitory activity with an IC50 value of 4.8 μg/ml, followed by the methanol extract of Eclipta prostrata (whole plant, IC50 = 21.1 μg/ ml), the water extract of Barleria lupulina (stem, IC50 = 26.4 μg/ml), the chloroform extract of Barleria lupulina (stem, IC50 = 33.0 μg/ml), the methanol extract of Barleria lupulina (stem, IC50 = 38.2 μg/ml) and the chloroform extract of Piper betle (leaf, IC50 = 39.3 μg/ml), respectively

Antimicrobial activity of the ethanol extract and compounds from the rhizomes of Kaempferia parviflora

The antimicrobial activity of the ethanol extract of Kaempferia parviflora was tested against human pathogens,including bacteria, yeast and dermatophyte fungi, using the agar disc diffusion. The ethanol extract exhibited strong antifungalactivity against dermatophytes with clear zone values from 10.7-19.8 mm at concentration of 2 mg/disc. However,ethanol extract showed no activities against all bacteria and yeast tested. The ethanol extract and seven compounds of K.parviflora were further studied using agar dilution method against dermatophytes. It was found that the ethanol extract of K.parviflora exhibited strong anti-fungal activity against Trichophyton rubrum, Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Microsporumgypseum with MIC values of 62.5, 125 and 250 mg/ml, respectively. Only compound 6 (3, 5, 7-trimethoxyflavone) present inthis extract showed appreciable anti-fungal activity with MIC values of 250 mg/ml against these three dermatophytes.According to the obtained results, compound 6 could be responsible only in part of the antifungal effect of theEtOH extract. The antifungal activity of the EtOH extract of K. parviflora supports its traditional use for the treatment ofdermatophyte infection

Antimicrobial activity of oil from the root of Cinnamomum porrectum

The steam-distilled oil from the root of Cinnamomum porrectum was tested for its antimicrobial activity against human pathogens including bacteria, yeasts and dermatophytes. It exhibited strongestactivity against Streptococcus mutans (MIC 0.01 mg/ml) followed by Candida albicans and dermatophytes (0.5-1.0 mg/ml), Bacillus subtilis (2 mg/ml), and susceptible strains of Staphylococcus aureus (4-16 mg/ml).It showed moderate activity against Cryptococcus neoformans (MIC 16-64 mg/ml) but no activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and methicillin-resistant S. aureus. These data indicate that C. porrectum oil hasantibacterial and antifungal activity