Antibacterial Activities of Some Medicinal Plants on Common Multidrug-Resistant Bacterial Isolates from Some Patients Attending Federal Medical Center, Birnin Kebbi, Nigeria

Bacterial infections are among the major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The development of drug resistance to most antibiotics by bacterial species are pandemic, these necessitate the urgent need to search for new antibacterial drugs from the natural sources. Hence this research was aimed at evaluating the antibacterial activity of some medicinal plants on the most commonly drug resistant bacterial isolates from some patients attending Federal Medical Center (FMC) Birnin Kebbi, Nigeria. An ethno-botanical survey was carried out within Zuru Emirate and three (3) plant samples (Lonchocarpus laxiflorus root, Mitragyna inermis root and Lawsonia inermis root) were selected based on their number of citations and limited number of reported researches on the antibacterial activities of their roots. The multidrug resistant bacterial strains (Staplococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Psuedomonas aeruginosa) obtained from FMC, Birnin Kebbi, were taken from nutrient agar slant and sub-cultured in nutrient agar plates. The antibacterial activities of the root methanol extracts of the plants were evaluated using agar-well diffusion method. Tube dilution method was used to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration of each plant extract. The preliminary phytochemical screening of the extracts was conducted using standard methods. Alkaloids, Flavaniods, Steriods, Tannins, saponnins and Phenols, were detected in L. laxiflorus root methanol extract, Flavaniods were absent in L. inermis and Alkaloids in M. inermis root methanol extracts. The plant extracts and their combinations showed varying degrees of antibacterial activities on the test isolates. The root methanol extracts of L. laxiflorus, L. inermis, L. laxiflorus/L. inermis, L. laxiflorus/M. inermis and L. inermis/M. inermis roots presented significant increase (p