Evaluation of the Antibacterial Activity of Chromolaena Odorata in Wistar Rats and its Chemical Characterization

Chromolaena odorata is a plant that has been used traditionally in the treatment of diverse disease conditions. This study sort to evaluate the anti-Salmonella typhi potential of Chromolaena odorata compared to ciprofloxacin in Wistar rats and to identify the phytochemical constituents present in the plant that could be responsible for the antibacterial activity exhibited by the plant. The animals were divided into six groups: group 1 was normal control, group 2 was infected with Salmonella typhi without treatment, groups 3, 4 and 5 were Salmonella typhi infected and treated with 100mg/kg, 200mg/kg and 400mg/kg of the extract respectively and group 6 was infected and treated with 500mg/70kg of ciprofloxacin. The animals were inoculated with a single infective dose of Salmonella typhi bacteria and subsequently, treated with the graded doses of methanol leaf extract of Chromolaena odorata and 500mg/70kg dose of ciprofloxacin for a period of fifteen days, when the animals were confirmed infected. Fecal matter was collected from each group on day 0 (when the animals were confirmed infected) and on every five days interval for the period of the study, for Salmonella typhi load assay. This was followed by phytochemical screening and GC-MS analysis of the plant extract. Treatment of infected animals with the extract and standard drug, resulted in a dose and time dependent eradication of the Salmonella typhi from the stool, while the phytochemical screening and the GC-MS analysis revealed the presence of phenolic, flavonoid, alkaloid, steroid and Geijerene, 3-methyl-3-vinyl- cyclopropene; 4, 6-Dimethyl-3-nitro-2(1H)-pyridinone, 2-Hexyn-1-ol, 1,2,3,4-Tetrahydro-2,3-dimethylquinoxaline, nonyl prop-1-en-2-yl ester Carbonic acid respectively. Thus the observed antibacterial activity could be attributed to the presence of these phytochemicals