In vitro Antimycobacterial Activity and Phytochemical Composition of Hydroethanolic Leaf Extracts from Aloe vera var. Barbadensis, Azadirachta indica, Bidens pilosa, and Chenopodium ambrosioides

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major global health problem. It causes ill-health among millions of people each year and ranks as the second-leading cause of death from an infectious disease worldwide, after the human immunodeficiency virus. The zoonotic infectious condition represents a never-ending challenge toward which drug discovery efforts are needed. The current study was designed to evaluate the in vitro antimycobacterial activity and phytochemical composition of hydroethanolic leaf extracts from Aloe vera var . barbadensis , Azadirachta indica , Bidens pilosa , and Chenopodium ambrosioides . The medicinal plants are traditionally used against respiratory tract illnesses, including TB. METHODS: The phenotypic colorimetric microplate alamar blue assay was used to study the antimycobacterial activity of the ethanolic extracts against six mycobacterial strains. Each experiment was run in triplicate. Data generated were analyzed using descriptive statistics to obtain mean minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values. RESULTS: The hydroethanolic extracts from the leaves of Aloe vera var . barbadensis , A . indica , B . pilosa , and C . ambrosioides exhibited MIC values of 19.5 μg/mL, 78.1 μg/mL, 78.1 μg/mL, and 78.1 μg/mL against the pathogenic mycobacterial strain, Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv (the American Type Culture Collection 27294), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, the tested hydroethanolic extracts from the leaves of Aloe vera var . barbadensis and C . ambrosioides have demonstrated significant activity against the pathogenic M . tuberculosis strain. This observation validates the ethnopharmacological use of both medicinal plants in traditional medicinal practices against TB. Further studies are required to isolate, elucidate the structure, and characterize the antimycobacterial compounds responsible for the observed activity. These will potentially contribute toward bioprospecting for a new class of ligands with activity against sensitive and drug-resistant strains of M . tuberculosis .