Preparation of New Herbal Formula for Treatment and Management of Superficial Vaginal Infection

 

Fouad H. Kamel¹, Mahabad Mohammed Hussein¹, Hemn Kareem Qadir¹, Lanja Sami Hamid²

¹Erbil Medical Technical Institute, Erbil Polytechnic University - Erbil-Iraq.

²Ministry of Health-Iraq.

 

ABSTRACT:

New formula of Rhuscoriaria L. and peppermint water extract was prepared. The formula tested against five common pathogenic microorganisms (Str. Mutants, Staph.aureus, E. coli, Ps. aeruginosa, and Candida) as in vitro test, this study found that the largest MIC was observed to be against Staph.aureus. The new formula was also depended in prevention of vaginal infection for 22 donor patients compared with 5 cases with infected vagina but used medications as positive control and another 5 cases healthy individual (healthy vagina) and not get treatment as a negative control.  The results documented that the natural product formula is better than the commercial antimicrobials in sense of shorter time of treatment, no side effect, and less cost.

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION:

Medicinal plants have been used to treat various diseases since ancient times¹. Many species of plants reported to have pharmacological properties through different secondary metabolites^2-4. Recent studies indicated that bioactive compounds have increased interest in plants as potential therapeutic agents with antimicrobial activities^5,6 these agents have fewer side effects, better patient tolerance, and relatively less expensive compared to conventional antibiotics⁷. According to World Health Organization (WHO), more than three quarters of the world population depend on plants and their extracts for health needs⁸.

 

In this connection, sumac is the common name for genus (Rhus) containing more than 250 individual flowering plant species in the an acardiaceae family⁹. Rhuscoriaria can grow in non-agricultural areas and it is commonly used as a spice by grinding the dried fruit with salt and also widely used in the Middle East Asia medicinal herb, especially for wound healing^10,11.

 

The extracts of R. coriaria fruit have been showed to contain high levels of polyphenols for example, anthocyanins, Gallic acid, and hydrolysable tannins¹². A variety of biologically active phytochemicals of R. coriaria utilized within natural medicinal products as antibacterial, antiseptic, antiviral, anti-dysenteric, anti-diarrheic, antispasmodic, astringent, hepatoprotective, protisticide, analgesic, antiulcer, ant gastric, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory¹³. Peppermint or mint (Menthapiperita L.) is also an important medicinal plant belonging to the Labiates family¹⁴. The leaves are stalked opposite, toothed and the flower is irregular in shape¹⁴. Peppermint leaves contains around 0.5-4% volatile oil consisting of 50-78% free menthol, menthofurane, monoterpene, and traces of jasmine 0.15 % to significantly improve the quality of the oils¹⁶. Herbalists consider Peppermint as an astringent, antiemetic, antiseptic, carminative, analgesic, diaphoretic, antimicrobial, mild bitter, rubefacient, and stimulant^17-19. In addition, menthol and peppermint oil have moderate antibacterial effects on both gram-positive and gram negative bacteria²⁰. Watery extracts of peppermint leaves were antiviral^21,22. Subsequent studies confirmed that both materials have a great potential to be developed as a safe and strong antibacterial activity against pathogens concerned with oral infections²³. Vaginities is a disease of the vagina and is characterized by the occurrence of itching and swelling in addition to the unusual secretion of the vagina in addition to affect the vulva²⁴. Fungi, bacteria or other organisms that cause inflammation can be present in the vagina without causing inflammation. Vaginities occurs when this balance is disturbed by the multiplication of one or more organisms in large numbers. There are several factors that result in this imbalance, including pregnancy, poor health, malnutrition, insomnia and the use of certain medicines, and wounds and allergies to certain types of detergents or disinfectants used in washing, perfumed soaps and receive powder, can in turn increase the risk of developing vaginalis²⁵. To the best of our knowledge, there are few available reports on the optimizing the extraction of polyphenols as alternative herbal treatment on bacterial and viral infection of the vagina. Therefore, in this study has been attempted to prepare new herbal formula used in safely traditional medicine to treat vaginal infection.

 

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

*Sample preparation:

Rhuscoriaria and Peppermint locally agriculture in Kurdistan region were collected from the local bazaar.

a.   Extract preparation: In order to prepare the extract, 100 ml of water was added to 10 g of Rhuscoriaria and the mixture was boiled for 5 minutes.

b.   Extract preparation of peppermint by adding 100mL of water to 10 g of peppermint leaves and then boiled on burner for five minutes.

c.   The Rhuscoriaria and peppermint were combined together in water and again the mixture was boiled for about 5 minutes.

 

In all cases the mixture stored at room temperature for 2 hours to allow the infusion process. Lastly, the obtained mixture was filtered through Whatman No.1 filter paper. After that, the extract could be used directly in treatment or were dry at 40^oCand stored in a sterile bottle at 4°C.

 

*Invitro test done for microbial suspension (Str. Mutants, Staph. aureus, E.coli, Ps. aeruginosa, and Candida) with a microbial count of 1.5 x 10⁸ CFU/ml was done against mixed solution of both herbal done.

***Thirty-two participants screened by a physician, specialist and laboratory test nurse for diagnoses and treatment. The participants were divided into cases of test group (infected vagina group); were found vaginal itching, redness, pain, swelling, and white discharge and negative control (healthy vagina).

 

***Treatment of vagina:

Test group: Twenty-two test donors group where diagnosed vaginal infection (candidacies and bacterial infection) had been treated with prepared herbal mixtures by washing with 5ml of herbal extract mixture two to three times daily.

 

Positive group:

The positive control consisted of 5 cases with infected vagina but used medications (Metronidazole suppository, and antibiotics orally) without formula. Then check for the time to treat and check for the side effects of the medications.

 

Negative Control Group:

The negative control consisted of 5 cases healthy individual (healthy vagina) and not get treatment, they agreed to participate in the current study and use the formula to wash their vagina twice a day 2-3 days at least, and investigate for any adverse effect to the formula.

 

RESULT AND DISCUSSION:

Table (1) presented size (diameter) of growth inhibition area ranged from 6 to 20 mm. Staph. aureus was noted with the biggest growth inhibition zone as a consequence of extract exposure was at (4:1) ratio. Similarly, these observations were recently reported by other researcher²³.

 

Table (1) presented effect of different Rhus: Pepp. ratio on microbial growth (MIC diameter)

 

Treatment of patient with vaginal infection:

Twenty-two donors of the test group (patients with infected vagina) felt to be healthy within 2-3 days of using the prepared formula as treatment, the signs of infection disappeared as observed by the physician and specialist nurse, the patients felt comfortable and symptom free.

 

Sixteen patients (72.73%) got healthy condition within 2 days of treatment with the formula, while the remaining 6 (27.27%) participants got healthy within 3 days of using the new formula. Both the negative control group and test group shown no adverse effect toward the formula, this indicates the safety of the formula. Both groups followed up by the investigators after 2-3 weeks of treatment with the formula and again there was no side effect of the formula. In comparing with the positive control group (infected vagina) who treated with antimicrobial medications, the results showed that the positive control group get cured after one week, furthermore the antimicrobial drugs has many adverse effects as stated by many references²³. Economically, the used formula is lower cost in comparing with the antimicrobial drugs.^24-28

 

Table (2) the three groups of the participants and the duration of treatment

 

Therefore, the findings of this research are very encouraging and indicate that this herb should be explored further to investigate its potential in the treatment of infectious diseases. For the future study, as the combinations of several spices could be proven to possess higher inhibitory effects on specific bacteria than those of individual spices. In conclusion the current study documented that the natural product formula is better than the commercial antimicrobials in sense of shorter time of treatment, no side effect, and less cost.

 

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Accepted on 18.04.2020           © RJPT All right reserved

Research J. Pharm. and Tech 2021; 14(3):1346-1348.