ANTIBACTERIAL EFFICACY OF Anopheles gambiae (MOSQUITOES) EXTRACTS ON SOME BACTERIA CAUSING THROAT INFECTIONS

Abstract

Introduction: Respiratory tract infection refers to any infectious disease involving the respiratory tract. In low-income and middle-income countries, respiratory tract infection is considered as one of the major public health problems. It can lead to severe mortality and morbidity in children as well as adults. Over the years there has been a development of resistance to antibiotics used for the treatment of throat infections which has led to the search for alternative therapy. Insects can be potentially useful as an alternative therapy because of the diverse bioactive compounds they possess.

Objective: This research investigated the antibacterial activity of the extract of Anopheles gambiae against bacterial isolates associated with throat infection.

Methods: The insects were bred in microbiology laboratory and identified in the Department of Biology, Federal University of Technology, Akure. The mosquitoes were collect and immobilized in the freezer at -4^oC. The extracts were prepared by mecrating the mosquitoes into 30% Dimethlsulfoxide (DMSO) for its homogenization.  Extracts were then tested against bacterial isolates in-vitro using agar well diffusion method. Results: Extracts were tested against bacterial isolates using agar well diffusion method which showed activity against S. pyogenes (22.00 ± 0.58^b mm), S. aureus (19.67 ± 1.20mm) and K. pneumoniae (24 ± 1.15mm), while it showed no activity against E. coli and S. pneumoniae. Conclusion: A. gambiae extract may be considered as an alternative in medicine to combat the issue of increasing multidrug resistance to conventional antibiotics, the side effects of these antibiotics and high cost of synthetic drugs production. The most prevalent compound was n-hexadecenoic with retention time of 20.997, which was reported to exhibit antioxidant and antimicrobial activity.