IN VITRO TESTING OF ANTIVIRAL, ANTIBACTERIAL, ANTIFUNGAL EFFECTS AND CYTOTOXICITY OF SELECTED TURKISH PHLOMIS SPECIES

The objective of this study was to examine antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral properties of selected Phlomis species (Lamiaceae) growing in Turkey. The petroleum ether and methanol extracts of the seven species, namely P armeniaca Willd., P bourgaei Boiss., P leucophracta P.H. Davis & Hub.-Mor., P lunariifolia Sibth. & Sm., P lycia D. Don, P pungens Willd. var. pungens, and P pungens var. hirta Velen. were tested against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus mirabilis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, and Enterococcus faecalis for their antibacterial activity using ampicillin and oflaxocin as references. Antifungal activity of the same extracts was determined against Candida albicans using microdilution method with ketocanazole as reference. Both DNA virus Herpes simplex type-1 (HSV-1) and RNA virus Parainfluenza (PI-3) were employed for antiviral assessment of the Phlomis extracts using Madin-Darby Bovine Kidney and Vero cell lines in which acyclovir for HSV-1 and oseltamivir for PI-3 were employed as reference drugs. Although both the petroleum ether and methanol extracts seemed to exert similar antibacterial activity, the methanolic extracts were observed to be more active against S. aureus and E. faecalis. On the other hand, methanolic extract of P pungens var. pungens possessed notable antiviral activity against both type of viruses.