Antibacterial Effects of Cranberry and Bearberry Herbals Extracts against Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from UTIs in Baghdad City, Iraq

Abstract

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the second most common type of bacterial infection worldwide. UTIs are gender-specific diseases, with a higher incidence in women. This type of infection could occur in the upper part of the urogenital tract or in the lower part of the urinary tract. The most common etiological agent E. coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Proteus mirabilis. Conventional therapeutic treatment involves the use of antimicrobial agents, but due to the dramatic increase in antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the natural alternatives for UTI treatment represents a current research topic. To compare the antibacterial effects of Cranberry, Bearberry and meropenem against isolated K. pneumoniae. Firstly, VITEK2 system was used for identification of bacterial isolates. Then antibacterial activity of Cranberry, Bearberry and meropenem against K. pneumoniae were assessed by Minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) using the broth micro dilution method. All isolated K. pneumoniae were obsolete resistance against Ampicillin in 75(100%) and high resistance rate to Cefazolin 65(86%), Ceftriaxone, Ceftazidime, Cefepime, and Trimethoprim/ Sulfamethoxazole 45 (60%). But they showed a low level of resistance rate to Nitrofurantoin, Cefoxitin, Gentamicin 35 (46.6%), 25 (33.3%), and 15 (20%) respectively. While displayed high sensitivity to Ertapenem, Imipenem, Piperacillin/ Tazobactam, Amikacin, Tigecycline at 75(100%). The results of Meropenem MIC were 32mg/ml for the isolated (K1, K3, K4, K6, K7, K8, and K9) strains while the isolate K2, K5 and K10 showed (64mg/ml, 64mg/ml and 16mg/ml) respectively as listed in (table 2 and figure 1). By the other hand, the results showed that the minimum inhibitory concentration of cranberry extract inhibition for K. pneumoniae isolate, which were 16mg/ml for isolates (K1, K3, K4, K5, K6, and K7). While 32mg/ml for isolates (K2, K8, K9) and 64mg/ml in K10 (table 2 and figure2). In contrast, the inhibitory effects of bearberry revealed an excellent finding at 16mg/ml for (K1, K3, K4, K5, and K6) while the MICs concentration for K2, K8, K9 and K10 were (32mg/ml, 32mg/ml, 32mg/ml and 64mg/ml) respectively. It can be concluded that the Cranberry and Bearberry possess an obvious antibacterial activity against isolated K. pneumoniae in comparison to meropenem.