Anti bacterial activity of Tinospora cordifolia extracts on clinical isolates from HIV infected patients

The present study was carried out to evaluate the in vitro antibacterial activity of aqueous leaf and stem extracts of Tinospora cordifolia on HIV related opportunistic bacterial pathogens. The leaves and stems of T. cordifolia were powdered and subjected to aqueous extraction. Preliminary phyotochemical screening was done by using standard procedures. The antibacterial activity of the aqueous extract of leaves and stems of T. cordifolia was studied using disc diffusion method against Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Salmonella typhi and Staphylococcus aureus these were isolated from blood and urine samples of HIV infected patients. The aqueous extracts of T. cordifolia exhibited effective antimicrobial activity against all tested microorganisms, while the leaf aqueous extract of T. cordifolia exhibited maximum zone of inhibition against Enterococcus faecalis (28 mm) and Salmonella typhi (26 mm) at 50 mg/ml concentration. The stem aqueous extract of T. cordifolia exhibited maximum zone of inhibition against Enterococcus faecalis (23 mm) and Streptococcus pneumonia (24 mm) at 50 mg/ml concentration. The present results suggest that the aqueous extracts of T. cordifolia have significant antibacterial activity against HIV related opportunistic bacterial pathogens.