Abstract:
Limitations have been concurrent with the usage of chemotherapeutic agents for the treatment of
wound infections which calls for the adoption of ethno-botanical remedy. The activity of
Jatropha tanjorensis leaf extract on bacterial isolates from wound infections was investigated in
this study. The collection of swabs of different wound infections include diabetes mellitus foot
ulcer, burn wound, post skin graft, avulsion wound, chronic leg ulcer, chronic arterial leg ulcer,
sickle cell leg ulcer, crushed hand injury wounds and crushed leg injury was conducted using
Levine methods of wound collection. The isolation and identification of bacteria from wound
swabs was conducted via direct plate method. The percentage recovery of crude extracts and
phytochemical analysis of Jatropha tanjorensis crude extracts was carried out using standard
method. The antibacterial assay of Jatropha tanjorensis crude extracts on wound bacteria and
antibiotic sensitivity pattern were done using Kirby Bauer disc diffusion technique. The multiple
antibiotics resistance (MAR) index determination of bacterial isolates was estimated using
standard model. Structural elucidation of the bioactive components of the plant was done using
Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrophotometer (GCMS) techniques. Among bacterial isolated
from wounds were Coagulase-positive and negative Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli,
Pseudomonas aeroginosa, Proteus mirabilis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Streptococcus
pyogenes. S. aureus coagulase +ve had the highest percentage occurrence (68.4%) in burn wound
samples while P. mirabilis and K. pneumonia had the least percentage occurrence (4%) in
diabetes mellitus foot ulcer wound samples. 82.01%, 79.5%, 56.36% and 53.04% were recovered
from methanol, ethanol, hot water and cold water of J. tanjorensis crude extract respectively on
soxhlet extraction. Methanol and ethanol extracts revealed the presence of methyl ester as
eicosane and 6-Octadecanoic acid respectively. Saponin was observed to be the highest
concentration of phytochemical in methanol extract (58 mg/g), while flavonoid had the least (1
mg/g) in cold water extract. Methanol extract had the highest zone of inhibition of 33 mm, while
the least (5 mm) was observed on cold water extract on S. aureus coagulase positive and P.
aeruginosa respectively. Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from the different wound infections
had the highest MIC of 100 mg/ml whereas coagulase +ve Staphylococcus aureus had the least
at 12.5 mg/ml in relation to the methanol extract of J. tanjorensis. S. aureus coagulase +ve,
S.aureus coagulase –ve and Streptococcus pyogenes were highly susceptible to ciprofloxacin at
31.00±1.00mm, 29.00±1.00 mm and 31.16±0.76 mm respectively whereas amoxicillin was
overly resistant to all the bacterial isolates. P. aeroginosa and P. mirabilis were highly
susceptible to ciprofloxacin at 31.0±1.00 mm and 31.5±0.50 mm respectively among the Gram
negative bacterial isolates and were all resistant to amoxicillin, gentamycin and augmentin. The
MAR index of Gram-positive bacterial isolates from wound swabs ranged from 0.2 to 0.3 while
those of Gram negative bacterial ranged from 0.6 to 0.9. This study revealed methanol extract
had the highest inhibitory activity compared to aqueous and ethanol extracts as well as other
antimicrobial agents (antibiotics) utilized on wound bacterial flora. The structural elucidation of
bioactive chemical compounds observed certifies J. tanjorensisas potential ethno-botanical
remedy for the management of wound infections. This suggests the use of J. tanjorensis as a
proven herbal concoction for the management of wound bacteria flora before wound
deterioration.