In Vitro Antibacterial Potential against Multidrug-Resistant Salmonella, Cytotoxicity, and Acute Biochemical Effects in Mice of Annona muricata Leaf Extracts

Moses Njutain Ngemenya; Rodolph Asongana; Denis Zofou; Rita Ayuk Ndip; Lamson Ottotoh Itoe; Smith Borakaeyabe Babiaka

doi:10.1155/2022/3144684

In Vitro Antibacterial Potential against Multidrug-Resistant Salmonella, Cytotoxicity, and Acute Biochemical Effects in Mice of Annona muricata Leaf Extracts

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2022 Aug 16:2022:3144684. doi: 10.1155/2022/3144684. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Moses Njutain Ngemenya^{1

2}, Rodolph Asongana¹, Denis Zofou¹, Rita Ayuk Ndip¹, Lamson Ottotoh Itoe¹, Smith Borakaeyabe Babiaka³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Buea, P.O. Box 63, Buea, Cameroon.
² Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, University of Buea, P.O. Box 63, Buea, Cameroon.
³ Department of Chemistry, University of Buea, P.O. Box 63, Buea, Cameroon.

Abstract

The treatment of Salmonella infections is threatened by multidrug resistance necessitating the search for alternative treatments, such as from medicinal plants. There are several reports on the antibacterial activity of Annona muricata. This study assessed the activity against multidrug-resistant (MDR) Salmonella and also the toxicity of the leaves of this plant. The hexane and methanol extracts of the leaves were screened against characterized MDR isolates by disc diffusion and microdilution methods. A cytotoxicity test was performed on monkey kidney epithelial cells; an acute toxicity test was conducted in BALB/c mice and the liver and kidney functions were assessed at the end of the test. Both extracts recorded weak activity in the disc test. Conversely, the extracts showed a wide range of activity against specific Salmonella isolates in the microdilution assay, and the lowest minimum inhibitory concentration value recorded was 0.0625 mg/mL. The hexane extract (ANO_HEX) was not cytotoxic (CC₅₀ = 57.7 µg/mL) and was also not toxic to the mice at 2000 mg/Kg bodyweight, while the methanol extract (ANO_MET) was cytotoxic (CC₅₀ = 18.44 µg/mL), and mortality was recorded at 2000 mg/Kg but not at 300 mg/Kg. There were no significant changes in biomarkers of the liver (alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase) and kidney (creatinine and urea) functions (P > 0.05), except for ANO_HEX which significantly decreased creatinine (P = 0.01), in the test mice which was not considered a toxic effect. In conclusion, this study has demonstrated high bacteriostatic activity against MDR Salmonella and a low risk of toxicity of A. muricata leaves. Hence, the leaves are a potential alternative treatment for resistant Salmonella infection. The natural products should be further investigated in vitro and in vivo.