Yasemin Akgöz. Int. Res. J. Pharm. 2015, 6 (7) INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH JOURNAL OF PHARMACY www.irjponline.com ISSN 2230 – 8407 Review Article THE EFFECTS OF HYPERICUM (HYPERICACEA) SPECIES ON MICROORGANISMS: A REVIEW Yasemin Akgöz* Department of Biology, Science Faculty, Dicle University, 21280 Diyarbakır/Turkey *Corresponding Author Email: [email protected] Article Received on: 19/04/15 Revised on: 07/05/15 Approved for publication: 20/06/15 DOI: 10.7897/2230-8407.06781 ABSTRACT Hypericum L. is a medicinal plant which is commonly found on earth, has many varieties and the most frequently studied regarding its antimicrobial, antifungal and antiviral effects because of its biological and chemical content. The most recognizable genus of Hypericum is Hypericum perforatum (common St. John's Wort: SJW). The plants of that genus comprise several different chemical compounds. These compounds have been studied in many chemical studies due to their active ingredients. The antimicrobial activity of this group of species has also been reported in numerous studies. In this study, the effect of more than 100 species of Hypericum genus of bacteria, fungi and viruses has been identified. Keywords: Hypericum; antimicrobial; antifungal; antiviral. INTRODUCTION microorganisms. Apart from the compounds mentioned above, many other biologically active compounds from the same family Hypericum L. genus, which is a member of Guttifera (Hypericacea) have been isolated and acyl phloroglucinol particles, which have family, contains 484 species that have been classified into 36 antimicrobial activity, have been identified16,17 . taxonomic sections in all over the continents except Antarctica1. Members of the Hypericum genus are perennial, herbaceous or Biological Effects of Hypericum Species scrubby, and can be naturally found West Asia, Europe, Siberia, North America, Australia, Cyprus, North Africa, Madeira and the In phytochemical studies, compounds of Hypericum demonstrated Azores and is naturalized in many parts of the world 2,3 . The length antimicrobial18, anticancer19, antidepressant20, antiviral21,22, of Hypericum, whose distribution can reach 2400 m in dry, antioxidant23,24, cytotoxic18, antifungal and antimalarial25 activities. calcareous and stony soils, light forests, meadows, marshes and Benzopyran of xanthones and flovonoid derived from these shorelines, rocky places, roadsides, and non-cultivated fields can be compounds are known to have antimicrobial activity against various up to 60 cm typically range from 40 to 80 cm in height 4,5. From the fungi and bacteria12,18. time of the ancient Greeks down through the Middle Ages, the plant was considered to be imbued with magical powers and was used to Medical Uses of Hypericum Species ward off evil and protect against disease6 . Recently there has been increasing interest in the genus Hypericum, because it is a source of Many kinds of diseases have been treated with herbal remedies since a variety of compounds with different biological activities7. The ancient times26 . During the second half of the 20th century, the most popular species of this genus, Hypericum perforatum (common acceptance of traditional medicine as an alternative form of health St. John's Wort: SJW), is one of the aromatic and medicinal plants care and the development of microbial resistance to the classical which is widely used in many different treatments for various antibiotics led researchers to investigate the antimicrobial activity of diseases8,10. The commercially available H. perforatum derived several medicinal plants 27. Herbal remedies are still being used products include phytopharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals, teas, extensively in many countries26. Hypericum is a well-known plant in tinctures, juices, and oily macerates9. herbal medicine due to its different species which have therapeutic effect. SJW has been used for some medical treatment such as Chemical Properties of Hypericum perforatum removing wounds and burns in skin, sciatica, shingles, eczema, urinary incontinence in children, menopausal disorders, pre- In the previous studies on this genus, the compounds isolated from menstrual syndromes, central nervous system disorders, mild and SJW have been naphthodianthro derivatives (hypericin, moderate depression, nerve damages, fear, worry, anxiety, joint pseudohypericin, protohypericin, and protopseudohypericin), inflammation (arthritis), bladder irritation, common cold, diabetes flavonols (hyperoside, rutin, quercitrin, isoquercitrin, and quercetin) mellitus, dyspepsia, and has been found to be quite effective biflavons (biapigenin and amentoflavone), the phloroglucinol particularly in wounds, buckling, and cramps8,9,28-30 . Some derivatives (hyperforin, adhyperforin), xanthones, the phenolic acids Hypericum species are still popular wound healing agents in the (caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, ferulic acid, hyperfolin, p-cumaric treatment of some infectious diseases17,31. Nowadays, the use of the acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, vanillic acid), essential oils, sterols, commercial extracts taken from this plant as antidepressants. beta-sitosterol, vitamin C, and vitamin A2,11-14. In addition to these Pharmaceutical companies, particularly in Europe, prepare standard compounds, imanine and novoimanine compounds which have formulations of this herb that are taken by millions of people. antimicrobial activity have also been identified in SJW 15. Worldwide annual sales of products made from SJW presently Nowadays, it is widely known that many of these compounds exceeded several billion dollars in the world32. possess antibacterial activity against some pathogen 390 Yasemin Akgöz. Int. Res. J. Pharm. 2015, 6 (7) The aim of this study was to review important studies about antibacterial activities against microorganisms such as S. aureus, Hypericum species. This comprehensive study is important for Bacillus cereus, B. subtilis and Nocardia gardenen. future studies. In this study, as shown in Table 2, Gram-positive bacteria such as Antiviral effect of Hypericum Species Bacillus sp., Clostridium perfringens, Corynebacterium sp., Listeria monocytogenes, Micrococcus sp., Mycobacterium sp., A number of compounds extracted from various species of higher Staphylococcus sp., Nocardia, Sarcina lutea, Streptococcus sp., plants have shown antiviral activity. Examples included tannins, Enterococcus sp. and Gram-negative bacteria such as Acinetobacter flavones, alkaloids, that displayed in vitro activity against numerous baumannii, Aeromonas hydrophila, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, viruses33. Many compounds have been isolated from plants of this Alcaligenes faecalis, Azotobacter chrococcum, Bordetella family and have had their antiviral activity studied34. Hypericin and bronchiseptica, Branhamella catarrhalis, Campylobacter sp., E. pseudohypericin extracted from SJW and may have therapeutic coli, Erwinia carotovora, Enterobacter sp., Helicobacter pylori, benefits viral infection and retroviral diseases 28. Both in vitro and Klebsiella sp., Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas sp., Shigella flexneri, invivo studies, hypericin significantly inhibited viruses such as HIV Serratia marcescens, Salmonella sp. and Yersinia enterocolitica (Human immunodeficiency virus)35, Influenza A36, Human have been commonly used for determination of anti-microbial and cytomegalovirus (HCMV)33,37, the DNA-virus, i.e. Herpes Simplex anti-fungal effects of some Hypericum species. (type 1 and type 2)33,34,37,38. The viral battery consisted of one DNA- virus, i.e. Herpes simplex type 1 (HSV-1), and RNA-viruses, i.e. Table 2 also shown that In 93 different species of Hypericum have Poliomyelitis, Coxsackie, Semliki forest, Measles and Vesicular antibacterial effects on 31 different bacteria and 91 different stomatitis virus (VSV)30. Hypericum species except H. amblycalyx and H. olivieri have anti- staphylococcal effect. The Staphylococcus species have been Table 1 shows published articles about antiviral effects of some identified as the leading bacteria which are mostly studied in terms Hypericum species on different types of viruses such as Coxsackie of their interaction with this genus. Subsequently, 64 different B2 virus, Measles edmonston A, Poliomyelitis virus, Semliki forest species of Hypericum have been studied on E. coli, which is the virus, Vesicular stomatitis virus, Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), second widely researched bacteria and the third researched is Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV1), Herpes simplex virus Pseudomonas. However, in bacteria species like Alcaligenes (HSV1), Influenza A virus (IAV), Feline immunodeficiency virus faecalis, Azotobacter chrococcum, Campylobacter sp., Nocardia sp. (FIV) and Hepatitis C. H. revolutum and H. perfaratum are the most and Vibrio sp. only one study has been carried out with relation to studied species of Hypericum for different virus analyses. The one species of Hypericum. At the end of these studies, it has been antiviral effect of Hypericum species, the most preferred virus was revealed that H. scabrum and H. perforatum have become the top HSV, which has been analysed with ten different Hypericum species species about the effect of antibacterial studies. (H. capitatum, H. connatum, H. hookerianum, H. kotschyanum, H. mysorense, H. neurocalycinum, H. perforatum, H. revolutum, H. Today, most of these microorganisms is known to cause many salsugineum, H. scabrum) and it has been followed by HIV1 with diseases in the inside or the outside the body of all living things43. four different Hypericum species