Indian medicinal plants for combating urinary tract infections

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the major causes of fever and morbidity in both community and nosocomial settings. Efficacy of traditionally used antimicrobial agents to treat UTIs are becoming less as the antimicrobial resistance of bacterial strains are increasing. Development of resistance to combination drugs have been also reported. Search for alternative therapy for the prevention or treatment of UTI is increasing because of the antibiotic resistance or tolerance. In recent years, growing interests have been recorded for development of antimicrobial agents from plant extracts for the control of multidrug resistant bacteria. Few studies on medicinal plants for treatment of UTIs have been conducted worldwide. Traditionally, medicinal plants derived compounds have been used in combination with a variety of antibiotics to treat drug-resistant bacterial infections. However, extensive investigation of properly standardized products/extracts in terms of bioactivities, mode of action, pharmacotherapeutics, safety followed by clinical trials is required for medicinal plants which have been used for management of UTIs on the basis of their long history of safety and efficacy. This may provide leads for discovery of modern drugs for management of UTI from medicinal plants. Managing UTI may prevent hospitalizations and reduce medical costs. In this review, antibacterial properties of 15 Indian medicinal plants Abutilon indicum (Linn.) (Ati bala), Amranthus tricolor L. (Amaranth), Berberis aristata DC. (Kashmol), Boerhavia diffusa L. (Punarnava), Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze (Tea), Cinnamomum verum J. Persl. (Cinnamon), Crataeva nurvala Buch-Ham (Varuna), Hibiscus sabdariffa Linn. (Roselle), Juniperus communis L. (Aaraar), Moringa oleifera Lam. (Drumstick), Plantago major L./ Plantago lanceolata f. altissima (Plantain), Taraxacum officinalis Weber ex F.H.Wigg. (Dandelion), Terminalia chebula Retz. (Black Myrobalan), Tribulus terrestris L. (Gokhuru), Vaccinium macrocarpan L. (Cran berry) and Vaccinium myrtillus L. (Blue berry) against uropathogenic bacteria have been briefly discussed.