摘要
Background： TB （Tuberculosis） is the second leading killer infectious disease after HIV （human immunodeficiency virus）. Its incidence is worsened by development of multi-drag resistant and extensive drug resistant TB stxains. Available treatment regimens are expensive, toxic and lengtjy resulting to problems of non-adherence and inadequate response. Medicinal plants on the other hand may offer hope for developing alternative medicine for treatment of TB. This study evaluated the anti-tuberculosis activity of Echinops amplexicaulis. Materials and methods： Total crude extracts ofE. amplexicaulis were tested for activity against a wild strain resistant to Rifampicin and Isoniazid （MDR）, a fully susceptible laboratory strain （H37Rv） and Mycobacwrium boris （BCG strain） using disk diffusion method. MIC （minimum inhibitory concentration） was determined using Middlebrook 7H9 broil1. The strains were sub-cultured on Middlebrook 7H10 medium and MBC （minimum bactericidal concentration） determined. Susceptibility was evaluated by measuring zones of inhibition; MIC was obtained as the lowest concentration with no significant growth as shown by clog formation ofMTB （Mycobacwria tuberculosis） cells on the walls of the macro broth tube and MBC was obtained as the lowest concentration that inhibited growth of MTB colonies on Middlebrook 7H10 medium. Results： The extract showed a significant effect at a concentration of 50 mg/mL against all the three test strains F （2, 18） = 437.7, p = 0.00. It exhibited a MIC of 0.0488 mg/mL against MDR-TB and M. boris. Its MBC was the same at 0.0977 mg/mL against both MDR TB and M. boris. The MIC was much lower （0.0122 mg/mL） for the H37Rv strain. Terpenoids, alkaloids and tannins were present in large amount in the extract while saponins were present in small amounts. Flavonoids were not detected in the extract. Conclusion： E. amplexicaulis has the potential to be developed into new anti-TB drug and outcome of tile study supports the folkloric cla
