Assessment of Euclea crispa leaf extracts against diarrhoea pathogens

Diarrhoea is a common childhood disease with high mortality rate. It is the second leading killer of children, nearly one fifth of the children under the age of 5 die due to dehydration or compromised immunity due to diarrhoeal infection. This study thus aimed at assessing effect of Euclea crispa leaf extract and its fractions against diarrhoea causing isolates and determining time-kill dynamics by the potent fractions. Susceptibility of isolates was determined via agar well diffusion while the minimum bacteriostatic and bactericidal concentrations were determined via agar dilution method. Time-Kill dynamics was evaluated over a period of 120 min against E. coli (1323) representing Gram-negative isolates. The lowest MIC (0.08 mg/ml) is exhibited by the fractions partitioned into ethyl acetate, n-butanol and water while that partitioned into n-hexane and chloroform is 0.16 mg/ml. Total mortality was achieved by the ethyl acetate fraction at a concentration of 2 × MIC after 120 minof contact time. This study showcase significant antidiarrhoeal potential of Euclea crispa leaf extracts and equally indicates a source of readily available therapeutic agent against diarrhoeal infection.