Antibacterial Activity of Methanolic Extract of Moringa oleifera Lam. Leaf on ESBL Producing Bacterial Isolates from Urine of Patients with Urinary Tract Infections

The study was carried out to determine the effects of methanolic extract of Moringa oleifera on bacterial isolates from urine of patients with urinary tract infection (UTI).  One hundred and fifty urine samples were collected for this study at Ekiti State Teaching Hospital, Ado Ekiti, Nigeria, between March 2015 and June 2015. Ethical clearance was obtained in order to carry out the study. Microscopical examination of the urine smear (wet preparation) revealed presence of yeast (48.0%), bacteria (88.9%), white blood cells (10%) and epithelial cells (14%). A total of 89 bacteria were isolated belonging to 40 different bacteria species. The Gram positive bacteria isolated include Corynebacterium  accolens, Arthrobacter  mysorens, Rhodococcus  equi, Staphylococus aureus, Luteococcus sanguinis, Aerococcus  viridians, Actinomyces urogenitalis, Helicobacillus massiliensis, Branchibus cervicis, Arthrobacter cretinolyticus, Streptococcus rubneri among others. While the Gram negative bacteria were Cetobacterium somerae, Escherichia coli, Klebisiella  pneumoniae, Yersinia frederikseni, Enterobacter aerogenes, Vibrio mimicus, Acinetobacter baumanii, Pantoea agglomerans, Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Citrobacter freundii, Proteus vulgaris among others. The bacteria isolated showed multi-drug resistance to the antibiotics tested. None of the bacterial isolates showed susceptibility to all the antibiotics tested, as they showed resistance to between 2 to 8 out of the 8 antibiotics tested per organism. All the bacteria tested showed evidence of ESBL production, and all of them were susceptible to the methanolic extract of dried leaf of Moringa oleifera . The qualitative analysis for phytochemical constituents of the methanolic extract of Moringa oleifera indicated the presence of saponnins, flavonoids, steroids and cardiac glycosides. The methanolic extract of dried leaf of Moringa oleifera was found to possess potent phytochemicals with high inhibitory activities on bacteria of UTIs origin. Key words: Antibacterial activity, Moringa oleifera Lam, Methanolic extract, Phytochemicals, Urinary tract infections.