幾丁聚醣與中草藥有效成分之抗菌組合應用於抑制痤瘡桿菌

Antibacterial Combination of Chitosan and Effective Ingredients in Medicinal Plants Applied for anti-Propionibacterium acnes

本研究以二十四種中草藥及幾丁聚醣作為實驗材料，利用Butylene glycol （BG）為溶劑萃取中草藥成分，再以瓊脂紙錠擴散法（Disc agar diffusion method）測試引起座瘡的主要病原菌－座瘡桿菌（Propionibacterium acnes）之抑菌效果。實驗結果發現過山香、苦參、虎杖、山芙蓉、羊蹄、馬齒莧、五味子、辣木、茵陳蒿、茜草、大黃及五倍子等中草藥的BC萃取物對於座瘡桿菌分別具有不同程度之抑菌效果。其中五倍子為本研究中抑制座瘡桿菌之最佳抗菌中草藥，另外，幾丁聚醣於pH=5.0時，對於座瘡桿菌亦具有非常顯著的抑菌效果，與常用於治療座瘡的藥物－過氧化苯（Benzoyl Peroxide, BP）作比較，幾丁聚醣對於座瘡桿菌之抑菌圈直徑平均值遠大於BP。研究結果亦發現幾丁聚醣與不同中草藥所含之活性抑菌成分的搭配組合，可獲得高度的協同增效抑菌作用（Antibacterial synersistic effect）。本研究中各個對於座瘡桿菌之有效抑菌萃取物或協同抗菌組合混合物均可開發為改善座瘡症狀之天然成分。

In this study, we took advantage of the disc agar diffusion method to estimate the antibacterial abilities of chitosan and butylene glycol （BG） extracts of 24 Chinese medicinal plants against Propionibacterium acnes, the main pathogen of acne vulgaris. The results revealed that the extracts from different medicinal plants, including Clausena excavala, Sophora flavescens, Polygonum cuspidatum, Hibiscus taiwanensis, Rumex crispus, Portulaca oleracea, Schisandra chinensis, Moringa oleifera, Artemisia capillaris, Rubia corcfolia, Rheum palmanum, and Galla Chinensis, exhibited various levels of antibacterial effects against P acnes. In the present study, chitosan （pH 5.0） and the BG extract from Galla Chinensis displayed the most significantly antibacterial abilities to inhibit P acnes. Compared to the common anti-acnes drug, benzoyl peroxide （BP）, chitosan （pH 5.0） showed a larger inhibition zone than BP in the disc agar diffusion testing. In addition, the combination of chitosan and active ingredients in medicinal plants could provide very markedly antibacterial synergistic effects. The data presented here suggested that we could employ chitosan （pH 5.0）, the BG extracts of medicinal plants, or the synergistic antibacterial mixture as effectively active agents in the treatment of acne vulgaris.