TITLE:
Action of Essential Oils Obtained from Baccharis coridifolia D. C. (Asteraceae-Astereae) on the Activity of Antibiotics
AUTHORS:
Sideney Becker Onofre, Marilde Canton, Paula Andressa Pires
KEYWORDS:
Medicinal Plants; Essential Oils; Antibiotic; Associated Use; Interference
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Microbiology,
Vol.3 No.2,
May
31,
2013
ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Baccharis coridifolia essential oil on the Activity of Antibiotics. Assays were performed with ampicillin (10 μg), cephalothin (30 μg), chloramphenicol (30 μg), gentamicin (10 μg) and tetracycline (30 μg) alone and in combination with the essential oil (4% v/v) through the disk diffusion susceptibility test. The results showed the effects of essential oil on the activity of the antibiotics tested. Zones of inhibition of bacterial growth with different diameters were observed surrounding the antibiotic disks, whether or not they were impregnated with the essential oil. The occurrence of the synergistic or antagonistic effect was observed in both bacterial strains assessed—Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC-25923) and Escherichia coli (ATCC-25922). These results show that the use of products derived from plants can, in some cases, interfere with the effectiveness of antibiotics during clinical therapy.