Antimicrobial activity of Pityrocarpa monilifomis leaves and its capacity to enhance the activity of four antibiotics against Staphylococcus aureus strains

Abstract

This work evaluated the antimicrobial activity of Pityrocarpa monilifomis leaves and the effects of extract and two active fractions in combination with four antibiotics againstStaphylococcus aureus strains. The extract only inhibited Gram positive bacteria, whereas the fractions also showed activity against Gram negative organism. Only n-butanol fraction showed synergistic/additive effects with all tested drug. Certainly as a consequence of saponin presence (it has a great hemolytic capacity). This study showed at first time the antimicrobial activity extract/fractions of leaves from P. moniliformis and their capacity to enhance the anti-S. aureus activity of some protein inhibitors drugs.   Key words: Caatinga, saponins, synergism, Pityrocarpa moniliformis, antimicrobial.