Antimicrobial activity of Mahonia aquifolium and two of its alkaloids against oral bacteria

• Published in: Schweizer Monatsschrift fur Zahnmedizin = Revue mensuelle suisse d'odonto-stomatologie = Rivista mensile svizzera di odontologia e stomatologia Vol. 117; no. 11; p. 1126
• Main Authors: Rohrer, Ursula, Kunz, Eva M Kulik, Lenkeit, Krystyna, Schaffner, Willi, Meyer, Jürg
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland 2007
• Subjects: Actinomyces - drug effects; Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans - drug effects; Alkaloids - pharmacology; Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; Bacteria - drug effects; Berberine - pharmacology; Colony Count, Microbial; Fusobacterium nucleatum - drug effects; Humans; Isoquinolines - pharmacology; Lactobacillus - drug effects; Mahonia; Mice; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Plant Extracts - pharmacology; Porphyromonas gingivalis; Prevotella intermedia - drug effects; Streptococcus anginosus - drug effects; Streptococcus mutans - drug effects; Streptococcus sanguis - drug effects
• ISSN: 0256-2855

Extracts or alkaloids isolated from Mahonia aquifolium exhibit antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, fungi, and protozoa. In this study the bacteriostatic and bacteriocidal activities of a M. aquifolium extract and two of its major alkaloids, berberine chloride and oxyacanthine sulphate, were tested in vitro against nine different oral bacteria. Minimum inhibitory concentrations were in the range from < or = 0.0031% to 0.1993% for the M. aquifolium extract, from 0.002% to > 0.125% for berberine chloride, and from 0.0156% to > 0.0625% for oxyacanthine sulphate. The values for the minimum bactericidal concentrations were in the same range, indicating that the test substances most probably acted in a bactericidal manner. The most susceptible bacterium against all three test substances was Porphyromonas gingivalis.