Antimicrobial Efficacy of Some Medicinal Plants on Different Bacterial Isolates Associated with Semen of Infertile Men

Abstract

Infection of the male genitourinary tract represents a significant health care problem and account for almost 15% of cases of male infertility. The present study aims to isolate and identified different bacterial isolates collected from semen samples of infertile men attending to infertility clinic and evaluation of the effects of bacteriospermia on semen quality. Five medicinal plants extracts were used as an alternative therapeutic agent targeting these isolates. Seventy seven infertile men were evaluated by standard bacterial culture methods. Among total cases, 22 cases (28.6%) showed at least one pathogen: 10 (45.5%) Escherichia coli, 9 (40.9%) Staphylococcus aureus, and 3 (13.6%) Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Our results showed that samples infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa recorded the highest ratio of abnormalities (96.5%). On the other hand samples infected with Escherichia coli recorded the second highest ratio of abnormalities (93.75%), while the samples infected by Staphylococcus aureus showed the least ratio of abnormalities (92.88%). From these five medicinal plants that extracted by ethanol-methanol and/or chloroform-metahnol methods, the most potent plants extracts against bacterial isolates were detected for both Syzygium aromaticum (Clove) and Thymus vulgaris (Thyme). In conclusion, the present study showed that the microbiological investigation should be performed, as a routine test, to all infertile men attending to infertility clinics. Flavonoids of the selected plants have a good antioxidant and antibacterial activity, and can be used for medicinal and therapeutic applications.