From selective interviews Thai folk doctors found that there were five Thai medicinal
plants popularly used as antipyretic drug and to reduce fever in cancer patients.
These are roots of Harrisonia perforata Merr (HP), Capparis micracantha DC (CM), Clerodendrum petasites S. Moore (CP), Ficus racemosa L. (FR) and Tiliacora triandra Diels (TT)[1]. The objective of this work wasto investigatetheir anti-microbial activities
against S. aureus, B. subtilis, E. coli and C. albicans using the disc diffusion method [2]. Cytotoxic activity against lung (COR-L23) and
breast (MCF-7)cancer cells and lung normal cells (MRC-5) was also tested by SRB assay
[3,4]. The ethanolic extracts were tested for their activity. TT showed the highest
inhibitory activity against S. aureus, B. subtilis, E. coli and C. albicans (clear zone=11.12, 13.8, 9.5 and 20.5mm respectively). HP and CP showed antibacterial
activity against gram positive organisms only. TT and HP showed high cytotoxicity
against MCF-7 (IC50=7.9 and 27.7µg/ml respectively) and CORL-23 (IC50=5.5 and 32.07µg/ml respectively). Surprisingly, there was no cytotoxic activity against
lung normal cells or MRC-5 (IC50>50µg/ml). These results showed that TT should be investigated further to isolate
active antimicrobial and cytotoxic compounds. These results support the use of these
plants by Thai folk doctors as antipyretic drugs.
Acknowledgements: Faculty of Medicine, Thammasart University for financial support
References: 1. Foundation for Thai Traditional Medicine Resuscitation and encourage (2005) Thai
Pharmaceutical Science. Pikanate Printing Center Cooperation p225–226.
2. Jorgensen J et al. (1999) Manual of clinical microbiology, 6th ed. Washington DC:
ASM Press. P1526–1543.
3. Itharat, A. et al. (2004)J. of Ethnopharmacology: 90:33–38.
4. Skehan P et al.(1990)J Natl Cancer Inst 1990: 82(13): 1107–12.