Antimicrobial Property of Thespesia Populnea Root Extracts against Genitourinary Tract Infectious Pathogens

Abstract

The healing properties of plants have been utilized by humans from ancient times to the present in order to combat infections and avert illnesses. Thespesia populnea is a member of the Malvaceae family and is located in coastal and tropical areas of India as well as in arid soil regions. The plant is versatile, with all its components, including roots, leaves, bark, stem, flower, and fruits, employed for their anti-microbial, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-fertility attributes. The plant extracts are obtained using various solvents such as ethanol, methanol, water, and ethyl acetate to test their anti-microbial efficacy against urinary tract infections. Phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of alkaloids, terpenoids, and tannins.

Introduction

Thespesia populnea is a medicinal plant recognized for its antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and therapeutic properties, particularly in treating urinary tract infections (UTIs). Various parts of the plant—leaves, bark, flowers, fruits, stem, and roots—contain bioactive compounds like beta-sitosterol, populenol, saponins, tannins, triterpenoids, and flavonoids that contribute to its healing effects.

• Leaves are primarily used for their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects and contain beta-sitosterol, which helps reduce inflammation, modulate the immune system, and neutralize free radicals.

• Flowers possess antibacterial and antioxidant compounds like populenol and phytosterols.

• Bark contains triterpenoids that reduce inflammation and may inhibit tumor progression.

• Stem and roots contribute to wound healing, antidiabetic, antidiarrheal, and astringent effects.

For UTIs, Thespesia populnea extracts exhibit antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory actions by targeting common pathogens (mainly E. coli) and alleviating symptoms such as pain and inflammation. Compounds like saponins, tannins, and astringents prevent bacterial adhesion, reduce swelling, and flush bacteria through diuretic effects.

Beyond UTIs, the plant also shows potential in:

• Anti-inflammatory and antipyretic treatments by lowering fever and inflammation.

• Antidiabetic effects by enhancing insulin secretion and glucose metabolism.

• Cardiovascular health by reducing cholesterol, improving blood vessel function, preventing blood clots, and protecting heart tissues from oxidative stress.

Conclusion

The phytochemical analysis of Thespesia populnea revealed various types of compounds, primarily flavonoids, phenols, steroids, saponins, and tannins. This plant comprises a total of 15 bioactive compounds. Carotenoids and flavonoids were found to be alkaloids and demonstrate significant antimicrobial potential for treating UTIs, rendering this plant a comprehensive source of medicine for numerous infections. The extract from the plant inhibits microbial growth in the urinary tract and can be processed to discover more new drugs. [Hopkins et al. , 1999]. The ethanolic leaf extract and petroleum ether fraction of Thespesia populnea show significant promise as natural treatments for Alzheimer\'s disease, backed by preclinical evidence of their antioxidant, neuroprotective, and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory capabilities. It is suggested that ethanolic bark and wood extracts undergo further similar studies in future research, as they may contain active compounds that could assist in treating symptoms of Alzheimer\'s disease. [Das et al., 2010].

References

[1] Vasudevan, M., & Parle, M. (2006). Pharmacological actions of Thespesia populena relevant to Alzheimer\'s disease. Phytomedicine, 13(9), 677-687 [2] Akhila, S. & Rani, K. (1993). Biosynthesis of gossypol in Thespesia populnea. Phytochemistry, 33, 335-340 [3] Baron, E. J. & Finegold, S. M. (1990). Baileyand Scotts. Diagnostic Microbiology. 8Edn., Mosby, USA. 176-182 [4] Ismail, A., Marjan, Z. M., Foong, C.W. (2004). Total antioxidant activity andphenoliccontent in selected vegetables. Food Chemistry, 87, 581-586 [5] Collins, C. H., Lyne, P. M. & Grange, J. M. (1995). Microbiological Methods, 7thEdn, Butterworths, London, 133 [6] Trease, G. E., & Evans, W.C. (1983). Textbook of pharmacognosy. (12th Ed.). English society Bartex, pp.73-86 [7] PJ Jones. CMAJ. (2002), 166, 1555-1563 [8] Frank D. Popp. (1962). J. Med. Chem. 5(3), 627-629 [9] Owen, R. W., Giacosa, A., Hull, W. E., Haubner, R., Spiegelhalder, B. and Bartsch, H. (2000). Eur. J. Cancer. 36(10), 1235-47 [10] Maruthupandian, A., and Mohan, V. R. (2011). Int. J. Chemtech. Res. 3(3), 1652-1657 [11] Maizura, M., Aminah, A., Wan Aida, W. (2011). Total phenolic content andantioxidant activity of kesum (Polygonum minus), ginger (Zingiber officinale) and turmeric (Curcuma extract, International Food longa) Research Journal, 18, 529-534 [12] Patil, P. S., Venkatanarayanan, R., Argade, P. D., & Shinde, P. R. (2012). Assessment of pharmacognostic and phytochemical standards of Thespesia populnea (L.) root. Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine, 2(3), S1212-S1216 [13] Chlopicka, J., Pasko, P., Gorinstein, S., Jedryas, A., Zagrodzki, P. (2012). Total phenolic and total flavonoid content, antioxidant activity and sensory evaluation of pseudocereal breads. LWT- Food Science Technology, 46, 548-555 [14] Barry, A. L., Thornsbery, C., Lennette, J. P. (1981). In susceptibility testing; Diffusion tests procedures. In Manual of Clinical Microbiology; 3rd Edn, American Society for Microbiology: Washington, DC, e561 [15] Senthil-Rajan, Srinivasan, D., R., Rajkumar, Kumarappan, M., C., Arunkumar, K., Senthilkumar, K. L., & Srikanth, M. V. (2013). Investigation on antimicrobial activity of root extracts of Thespesia populnea new antibiotic resistant antimicrobial drugs to combact the antibiotic resistant strains. Linn. Tropical Biomedicine, 30(4), 570-578 [16] Hopkins, W. J., Uehling, D. T., Wargowski D. S., (1999). Evaluation of a Familial Predisposition to Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections in Women. American Journal of Medical Genetics, 83, 422–424 [17] Das, K., Tiwari, R. K. S., Shrivastava, D. K. (2010) Techniques for evaluation of medicinal plant products as antimicrobial agent: current methods and future trends. J Med Plant Res, 4(2), 104–111NIST/EPA/NIH Mass spectra library with search program (Data: NIST, software2` version 2.0), NIST standard reference database, 2002, no.76422

Copyright

Copyright © 2025 Pradeesh. S, Darshan. M, Mythreyan. B, Aanandha Kumar.G, A. M. Ramachandran, J. Rengaramanujam, J. Devakumar, R. Mahenthiran. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.