13. ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF GLYCYRRHIZA GLABRA AND ITS COMBINATION WITH ANTIBIOTICS By A. R. SUTHAR AND P. J. VYAS

Abstract

Antibiotics are widely used for treatment of various infectious diseases, but wide use of antibiotic has led to the emergence and spread of resistant strains. Plants contain various phytochemicals with promising biological activities. Studies of synergistic effect of plant extracts with antibiotics have been reported. In this study, antibacterial activity of Glycyrrhiza glabra and its combination with erythromycin, ciprofloxacin and ceftazidime were carried out against E.coli and S.aureus. Combination of methanol extract with erythromycin showed good promising activity against E.coli. This concept of combination of plant extract with antibiotics may be new way to treat infectious diseases.
There are number of different types of chemicals are produced by various medicinal plants and their healing potential has been known for thousands of years 1. Plants are source of various antimicrobial agents. Plant materials play vital role to maintain basic health needs in the world. Due to the side effects and the resistance that pathogenic microorganisms build against antibiotics, recently much attention has been paid to extracts and biologically active compounds isolated from plant species used in herbal medicine 2.
Various microorganisms are developing resistance against antibiotics due to wide uses of them. One way to fight against such resistance problem is use of combination therapy of plant extracts with antibiotics. The combination of antibiotics and plant extracts is a novel concept and it could be effective 3. Many studies on synergistic effect of plant extracts and antibiotics have been reported.

In this study we have performed antibacterial activity of methanol extract of Glycyrrhiza glabra alone and its combination with antibiotics against bacteria.
Glycyrrhiza glabra is a traditional medicinal herb grows in the various parts of the world. Its scientific name is taken from the Greek for sweet root (glykys, meaning sweet, and rhiza, meaning root) 4. It has been used medicinally in both Western and Eastern countries for more than 4000 years 5, 6. Different types of constituents have been isolated from G. glabra, including a water-soluble, biologically active complex that accounts for 40-50 % of total dry material weight. This complex is composed of triterpene saponins, flavonoids, polysaccharides, pectins, simple sugars, amino acids, mineral salts, and various other substances 7. Glycyrrhiza glabra is the most commonly useful for treatment of upper respiratory ailments including coughs, hoarseness, sore throat and bronchitis 8, 9.
KEY WORDS: Antibacterial activity, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Antibiotics.