<i>In vitro</i> antimicrobial activity of Mathesia® on bacterial isolates of wound infections in University Clinics and Hospital Centre of Mont Amba, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Abstract

Background: Mathesia is a hydro-alcoholic emulsion, colourless and somewhat viscous, based on extracts of medicinal plants and  containing saponins, polyphenols, tannins, and reducing sugars. In this study, we proposed to carry out an in vitro study of the  antibacterial activity of phytomedicine Mathesia on strains of bacteria isolated from diabetic foot ulcers and chronic wounds of patients in  care in the University Clinics and the Hospital Centre of Mont Amba in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Methodology: This in vitro study was carried out in the bacteriology laboratory of the Higher Institute of Medical Technology of Kinshasa  from February to June 2022. The Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method on MuellerHinton agar was used for antibacterial assay of different  concentrations of Mathesia on 7 different Grampositive and Gram-negative bacterial species isolated from chronic wounds. The  minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of Mathesia for the isolates was determined by broth dilution method on Mueller Hinton broth  media.

Results: The results from this study showed that Mathesia has an inhibitory effect upon the 7 bacterial species at MIC value of less  than 100 μg/ml. The lowest MIC value of 1.95 μg/ml was obtained against Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis and  Proteus species.

Conclusion: The results obtained in this study corroborate previous studies which demonstrated effectiveness of  Mathesia on Escherichia coli, Streptococcus pyogenes and Aspergillus species. This activity could also be justified by the presence of phenolic  acids, tannins and flavonoids which possess antibacterial properties.