ABSTRACT
Emergence of antibiotics resistant pathogenic bacteria has resulted in attempts by scientists to find new drugs as alternatives to antibiotics. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antibacterial effect of stem bark extracts of Tamarix ramosissima on Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates. This study was conducted in Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, in 2013. The stem bark of T. ramosissima shrub was separated. Using the petrolatum ether, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, ethanol and hydro ethanol, T. ramosissima extract was prepared. We assessed the susceptibility of 52 isolates of P. aeruginosa to the extracts by standard disk diffusion and minimum inhibitory concentration [MIC] methods. The results showed that low concentrations of the extracts had no obvious effect on 52 isolates of P. aeruginosa. But higher concentrations of the extract were effective against a number of isolates. The petrolatum ether extract was effective against five, dichloromethane extract against six, ethyl acetate extracts against eight, ethanol extract against nine and hydro ethanol extracts against six isolates. MIC of the extracts had a little effect in comparison to the controlled antibiotics. In general, the difference between the effect of the extracts and the control antibiotics was considerable and statistically significant which indicated little effect of the extracts on the bacteria. Increased concentrations of the extract showed a slight effect on P. aeruginosa in vitro, compared to the controlled antibiotics, but it was not statically significant. In order to understand whether traditional use of the extract of this shrub to treat skin ulcers had been due to its anti-bacterial or anti-inflammatory effect, in vivo experiments on animals are necessary