Investigating the potential of medicinal plants as antimicrobial agents to combat pathogenic bacteria

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global health crisis that emerged mainly due to the misuse and overuse of antibiotics. As part of this, bacterial resistance is considered to be a major concern, which leads to increased morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs. Catheter- associated infections are the most prevalent kind of healthcare-related infections, involving biofilm formation on medical devices and contributing to AMR. Growing interest has been shown in medicinal plants as potential antimicrobial agents that might address the pressing issue of AMR. The objective of this study was to evaluate the antibacterial, anti-adherence, and anti-biofilm properties of selected medicinal plants against pathogenic bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter baumannii. Observed experimental results in this project provide valuable information on addressing current research gaps on medicinal plants as potential antimicrobial alternatives against pathogenic bacterial microorganisms, as well as utilised for further applications such as antimicrobial coating materials for catheters that could potentially reduce the risk of catheter-associated infections.

Thesis is embargoed until 31 July 2025.

Date of Award	Jul 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Queen's University Belfast
Supervisor	Chen Situ (Supervisor), Linda Stewart (Supervisor) & Colin McCoy (Supervisor)