ABSTRACT
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are one of the most common types of bacterial infections in humans, bothin the community and in health care settings. UTIs include a range of clinical entities ranging in severityfrom asymptomatic infection to acute cystitis, prostatitis, pyelonephritis, and urethritis. This is one of themost common diseases encountered in medical practice today, affecting people of all ages, from newborn togeriatric age group. The bacteria most commonly implicated as agents responsible for UTIs generally originatein the intestine and include Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas spp., Streptococcus spp., Proteus spp., Klebsiellaspp., Staphylococcus spp., Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, and Candida spp. There arevirulence factors of urinary pathogens that promote adhesion to mucosal surfaces and subsequent infections.The multiresistant of these enterobacteria responsible for UTIs is a major public health problem. Antibioticresistance remains a major problem, especially in the developing countries where hygiene conditions are stillprecarious and antibiotic use is often abusive and poorly controlled. The multidrug-resistant Enterobacteriaceaemost implicated in UTIs by extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL) and carbapenemase production are:Klebsiella pneumoniae, E. coli, and Proteus spp., not to mention Acinetobacter baumanii and Pseudomonasaeruginosa, the most carbapenemase producing. The detection of ESBL and carbapenemase production isbased mainly on phenotypic and genotypic tests.
ABSTRACT
In the Benin pharmacopoeia, the use of Ocimum gratissimum Linn (Lamiaceae) based on the empiricalknowledge is widespread. The objective of this work is the matching of the virtues attributed to this plant in folkmedicine with the biomolecules present through a thorough phytochemical exploration. Standard screeningis based on the differential reactions of precipitation and staining. Phenolic compounds, total flavonoids,and condensed tannins were quantified by colorimetric Folin–Ciocalteu, AlCl3, and acid vanillin methods,respectively. Phenolic acids were investigated by the HPLC Ultimate 3000 chain and the antioxidant capacityevaluated by the ferric reducing antioxidant power method coupled with that of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl.Standard screening revealed the presence of flavonoids, alkaloids, tannins, anthracene derivatives, steroids, andterpenoids. The total contents of phenolics, flavonoids, and tannins were 56.59 mg gallic acid equivalent /100mg, 13.71 mgEQ/100 mg, and 8.6 mgEC/100 mg, respectively. For specific assays, three flavonoids (chrysin,isorhamnetin, and quercetin) and six phenolic acids (tannic, ellargic, ferrulic, syringic, chlorogenic, and caffeic)have been identified. The antioxidant activity ranges from 78.92 to 106.25 mmol. Ascorbic acid equivalent /gextract with free radical inhibition ranging from 5.24% to 76.59%. The 50% inhibitory concentration givinga value of 6.175 mg ml−1 is greater than that of the pure molecule. The presence of these phytocompoundsendowed with antiradical power testifies to the medicinal potentialities of O. gratissimum. These resultsconfirm the empirical use of O. gratissimum in this study area