1Department of
Pharmaceutics, and 2Department of Plant
Tissue Culture, National Organization for Drug Control
and Research (NODCAR), Cairo, Egypt
*For correspondence:
Email:
marwa_25_2001@hotmail.com
Received: 2 February 2013
Revised accepted: 13
October 2013
Tropical Journal of
Pharmaceutical Research, December 2013;
12(6): 877-884
http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/tjpr.v12i6.3
Abstract
Purpose: To formulate topical gels
containing various essential oils and evaluate their
antibacterial activity against methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) skin infections.
Methods: The four essential oils
namely, lemon grass, rosemary, thyme and basil were
steam-distilled and then evaluated for their
antibacterial activity against MRSA. Lemon grass and
thyme oils were chosen for further studies, including
analysis of their composition by gas
chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Gels
were formulated using carbopol 940, hydroxypropylmethyl
cellulose, sodium carboxymethy cellulose with lemon
grass oil and evaluated for their physical appearance,
pH, spreadability rheological properties, antibacterial
activity against MRSA and skin irritation in human
volunteers. The selected gels were prepared with thyme
oil alone or in combination with lemon grass oil and
compared with that containing lemon grass oil alone.
Results:
The minimum inhibitory
concentration (MIC) of lemon grass and thyme oils were
30 and 4 µl/ml, respectively. Carbopol 940 gel (0.75 %)
containing lemon grass oil showed good physical
characteristics, including spreadability and rheological
properties; it also showed the strongest antibacterial
activity of the gels tested. No significant difference
(p ≤ 0.05), were observed between the characteristics of
the gels containing thyme oil alone and in combination
with lemon grass oil. The antibacterial activity of the
gel containing the two oils was approximately the sum of
those containing the individual oils. No signs or
symptoms of lesions, redness or itching were found when
the gels were applied to the skin.
Conclusion:
The carbopol 940 gel
containing lemon grass and thyme oils possess good
antibacterial activity against MRSA when applied to
human skin, and exhibit no skin irritation.
Keywords: Essential oil,
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus ,
Topical gel, Antibacterial, Spreadability, Rheology,
Skin irritation
