Planta Med 2011; 77 - PM214
DOI: 10.1055/s-0031-1282972

n-Hexane extracted compounds of Bromus inermis with excellent anti-MRSA activity

A Aliahmadi 1, R Roghanian 1, G Emtiazi 1, A Ghassempour 2, F Mirzajani 2
  • 1Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran.
  • 2Department of Phytochemistry, Medicinal Plants and Drug research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.

Bromus inermis Leyss. is a grass which belongs to family Poaceae. It is a potent weed. Weeds could be a potent source for finding antibacterial compound regarding their characteristics such as living in a divers conditions and situations. In a large screening program for antibacterial activity screening of some weed plants extracts, we finally find a great anti-MRSA activity in n-hexane extract of B. inermis (MIC of smaller than 100µg/ml for crude extract in triplicate assays).

We used HPTLC and a simple biographical assay in parallel for initial characterization and identification of effective substance(s) in the extract, and finally it was concluded that the effective anti-MRSA substance is a relatively polar substance which has MIC of about 3µg/ml against our MRSA strain. Susceptibility tests with standard antibiotics had been shown the MIC of 35 for chloramphenicol against this strain.

Further investigations with HPLC Fractionation and subsequent NMR analysis could reveal the identity of the effective substances in our continuing work.