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1‐methyl malate from Berberis integerrima fruits enhances the antibacterial activity of ampicillin against Staphylococcus aureus
Author(s) -
Alimirzaee P.,
Gohari A. R.,
Hajiaghaee R.,
Mirzaee S.,
Jamalifar H.,
MonsefEsfahani H. R.,
Amin Gh.,
Saeidnia S.,
Shahverdi A. R.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
phytotherapy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.019
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1099-1573
pISSN - 0951-418X
DOI - 10.1002/ptr.2641
Subject(s) - ampicillin , staphylococcus aureus , antibacterial activity , traditional medicine , minimum inhibitory concentration , microbiology and biotechnology , agar diffusion test , chemistry , agar dilution , biology , antimicrobial , medicine , antibiotics , bacteria , genetics
The enhancement of the antibacterial activity of ampicillin by different extracts of Berberis integerrima fruits was evaluated against Staphylococcus aureus . Disk diffusion and agar dilution methods were used to determine the antibacterial activity of ampicillin in the absence and presence of different plant extracts or various fractions eluted by column chromatography. A clinical isolate of S. aureus was used as a test strain. The active component of B. integerrima fruits involved in the enhancement of ampicillin activity was purified and identified as 1‐methyl malate using different spectroscopic methods. Both the ethanol extract of B. integerrima fruits and 1‐methyl malate enhanced the antibacterial activity of ampicillin. The total extract as well as 1‐methyl malate increased the antibacterial activity of ampicillin against the test strain. The potency of ampicillin against the test strain was increased 64‐fold when tested with a sub‐toxic concentration of total extract of B. integerrima fruits. Also, 1‐methyl malate increased the bactericidal activity of ampicillin. In the presence of 2 mg/mL of 1‐methyl malate the MIC of ampicillin for S. aureus decreased from 128 to 1 µg/mL (128‐fold). Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.