Pakistani medicinal plants show potential for treating conjunctivitis

Researchers from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have found potential cures for conjunctivitis in different Pakistani medicinal plants. They were able to identify these plants by screening their extracts for antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

• Conjunctivitis, commonly known as “red eye” or “pink eye,” occurs due to infectious pathogens like P. aeruginosa and S. aureus. When left untreated, it has the potential to cause blindness.
• Antibiotic-resistant bacterial species are on the rise. Because of this, there is a need to find alternative treatments for different types of bacterial infections, including conjunctivitis.
• In this study, published in The Journal of Animal & Plant Sciences, the researchers wanted to determine if extracts from 36 plant species have potential use as natural remedies for conjunctivitis. To do this, they tested them for antibacterial activity against S. aureus and P. aeruginosa strains.
• From these plants, myrobalan (Terminalia chebula) exhibited the strongest inhibition against S. aureus, followed by pomegranate (Punica granatum), black pepper (Piper nigrum), great pignut (Bunium bulbocastanum), and Damask rose (Rosa damascena). Meanwhile, plants that were most effective against P. aeruginosa include great pignut, common juniper (Juniperus communis), and Armenian plum (Prunus armeniaca).
• They also tested extracts from 23 plant species against clinical isolates of S. aureus and P. aeruginosa.
• In this part of the study, the plants that worked against S. aureus clinical isolates were pomegranate, Damask rose, and tamarix (Tamarix dioica), caraway (Carum carvi), pistachio (Pistacia vera), myrobalan, and common fig (Ficus carica). These plants were also effective in inhibiting P. aeruginosa growth.

Overall, these results show that there are many Pakistani medicinal plants that can be used as natural remedies for conjunctivitis due to their potent antibacterial properties.

The full text of the study is available at this link.

If you’d like to read more news articles on different medicinal plants, visit NaturalHealth.news.

Journal Reference:

Meher S, Ali I, Sami A, Ismail M, Naheed N, Khan SA, Ahmad VU. SCREENING OF SOME MEDICINAL PLANTS FOR ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY AGAINST CONJUNCTIVITIS. The Journal of Animal & Plant Sciences. 2017. 27(6).