Prospect of reducing antibiotic resistance in Escherichia coli with herbal medicines

The widespread use of antimicrobials in medical and veterinary practice led to the appearance of resistant strains and the emergence of a global problem of the mankind - antibiotic resistance. Nevertheless, the use of antibiotics remains one of the main directions of pharmacotherapy for the treatment of diseases caused by pathogenic and opportunistic microflora. Therefore, the development of measures to overcome the resistance of microorganisms to antibacterial drugs is a rather relevant area of research. The study of sensitivity to antimicrobial drugs of Escherichia coli isolated from biomaterial of calves with signs of gastrointestinal diseases revealed resistance to four out of twelve drugs. Exposure of bacteria to factors of plant origin revealed that decoctions of pomegranate peel and bird cherry fruit, infusions of alder bark, yarrow herb and snakeweed root increased the sensitivity of Escherichia cultures to gentamicin, ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin, levofloxacin, imepenem, ceftriaxone, cefixime, ceftazidime, and in some cases, to streptomycin and doxycycline. It barely affected sensitivity to ampicillin and amoxicillin in combination with clavunalic acid. The pronounced ability of the studied factors to increase antibiotic sensitivity is confirmed by the average statistical data of growth suppression zones in Escherichia coli before and after the influence of the factors. After exposure to decoction of bird cherry fruit, the sensitivity of Escherichia cultures increased to ten antimicrobial agents, decoction of pomegranate peel - to eleven, infusion of alder bark, yarrow herb, and snakeweed root - to eight drugs. The obtained experimental data on the influence of factors of herbal origin on the sensitivity to antimicrobial drugs in vitro show the possibility of their use in vivo for the prevention and treatment of acute gastrointestinal diseases of young farm animals.