CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a major nosocomial pathogen which causes severe morbidity and mortality worldwide. The emergence of resistance against classical pharmacological treatments generates interest in the development of new alternatives. Ilex paraguariensis St. Hil is a plant species of South American origin and source of bioactive principles useful for both the food and pharmaceutical industry. The aim of this work was to search for antimicrobial activity of leaf extracts of Ilex paraguariensis against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA). Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 43300 (MRSA) and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 (MSSA) were analyzed with aqueous extracts obtained from Ilex praguariensis leaves dried at room temperature and at 80 ° C. The extracts were obtained by controlled digestion at 37 °C for 24 h with water. The Minimum Inhibitory Doses (MID) was determined by plate disc diffusion test inoculating a 0.5 McFarland turbidity bacterial suspension on Mueller-Hinton agar. 15, 10, 5, 1 and 0.5 mg of each extract were loaded on the discs. Distilled water was used as control. Only the aqueous extract obtained from leaves dried at room temperature showed antibacterial activity against both strains with a MID of 5 mg disc-1. Whereas the aqueous extract obtained from leaves dried at 80 ° C did not show inhibitory activity at all. We conclude that the aqueous extract of this plant may be an effective potential candidate for the development of new strategies to treat Staphylococcus aureus infections. It is necessary to continue with studies to identify and characterize the metabolites responsible for antibacterial activity considering that temperatures above 80 °C inhibit their functionality.

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