This page respects the original work's rights terms and independently introduces its bibliography, abstract, main results, and limitations. It is not a full translation.
About this resource
This resource describes a 2018 conference abstract that added a liquid called sananga to standard strains of Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans and tested antibacterial and antifungal activity in culture. The same research group separately reported a test of S. epidermidis and P. acnes. Because this abstract concerns different organisms and has a separate DOI, it is included independently rather than discarded as a duplicate.
The subjects were microorganisms cultured for 24 hours, not patients or human eyes. The original conclusion points to possible future uses in infection control, but the actual measurements were limited to growth and survival in vitro. This page is not a full-text translation; it distinguishes the observed results from the authors’ future outlook.
Study design
The strains were S. aureus CCCD S003 and C. albicans ATCC 25923. The authors serially diluted sananga in a 96-well microplate, added the microbial suspensions, and incubated them for 24 hours at 37°C. The lowest concentration preventing growth was designated the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC).
They then took duplicate 0.1 mL samples from each well and recultured bacteria on TSA agar and fungi on Sabouraud-Dextrose agar. Minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) was assessed for the bacterium and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) for the fungus. The abstract defines the endpoint as the lowest concentration leaving 0.01% surviving bacteria or yeast.
Content
This method is an initial test of whether a sample stops microbial growth under specified culture conditions or greatly reduces survival after reculture. A positive result can support the next stages of identifying candidate constituents, reproducing the finding in other strains, and assessing toxicity. However, 100% in culture medium does not mean a concentration safe for the human eye.
Liquids distributed under the name sananga are generally associated with Tabernaemontana sananho, but their composition may vary with plant part, preparation water, extraction conditions, and batch. Because the abstract provides no chemical analysis or comparison of multiple batches, it is unknown which constituent contributed to the result or whether another sananga preparation would reproduce it.
S. aureus and C. albicans differ in classification and cellular structure. An effect on a bacterium does not imply the same effect on a fungus. The value of this study includes testing the 2 separately and retaining the negative result.
Results
For S. aureus, both MIC and MBC were reported at 100% sananga—the undiluted condition tested. The abstract does not indicate that a diluted condition reached the same endpoint. No antifungal activity was observed against C. albicans.
The finding is therefore not that sananga displayed broad antimicrobial activity. It is a limited observation that undiluted sample met the growth-inhibition and bactericidal endpoints for 1 particular standard strain of S. aureus, while the result was negative for 1 particular standard strain of C. albicans. Treatment of infection in people, improvement of eye disease, and activity against multidrug-resistant organisms were not measured.
Limitations
The source is a short electronic-poster conference abstract and provides limited information compared with a full paper on replication count, variability, positive and negative controls, statistical analysis, and sample constituents. Results from 1 standard strain of each organism do not represent clinical isolates or populations with different resistance. No independent replication appears in the abstract.
Direct contact with microorganisms does not reproduce dilution by tears, retention on the ocular surface, corneal penetration, tissue toxicity, or immune response. A result obtained only with undiluted sample makes simultaneous study of antimicrobial activity and tissue safety especially important. The authors’ proposal for future work must not be equated with an experimentally established clinical fact.
Safety
The study did not administer the sample to human or animal eyes and did not measure irritation, corneal damage, inflammation, or adverse events. A concentration that suppresses a microorganism is not necessarily safe for ocular tissue. A negative fungal result also says nothing about product safety or sterility.
For naturally derived eye drops, botanical identity, pH, osmolality, foreign material, microbial contamination, and storage are separate evaluation domains. This resource provides no preparation or administration method and does not recommend self-use or treatment of eye disease.
Source and rights
Original source: Abilio C, Kozusny-Andrean DI, Chalub LR. Atividade antimicrobiana da sananga em Staphylococcus aureus e Candida albicans. The Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases. 2018;22(S1):43–44. DOI: 10.1016/j.bjid.2018.10.082.
The source page displays the material as Open Access and under a Creative Commons license. This page does not reproduce or translate the original at length; it is an independently worded detailed introduction based on the published bibliographic information and abstract. The exact license terms shown on the source page take precedence.