Antibacterial Effect of Aqueous and Ethanolic Extracts of Humulus Lupulus on Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Background and Objectives: Tuberculosis (TB) infectious disease is caused by intracellular pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis and is one of the major health problems throughout the world. Humulus lupulus (hop) is a species of flowering plant of the Cannabaceae family, which have sedative, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and anti-cancer activities. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the antimicrobial properties of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Humulus lupulus on Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Methods: In this semi-experimental research, the plant extract was produced by cold maceration method, then its MIC and MBC for Mycobacterium tuberculosis, was assessed using serial dilution. Results: The results were indicative of strong antimicrobial activity of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Humulus lupulus against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The antimicrobial effect of standard strain C was more than standard strain H37RV; The MIC and MBC levels of aqueous extract of Humulus lupulus on Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains C, were 7.8μg/ml and 15.7μg/ml, respectively. This amount for the ethanol extract of Humulus lupulus, was 15.7μg/ml and 31.2μg/ml, respectively. Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that Humulus lupulus extract can be used as antibacterial agent in development of new drugs for the treatment of tuberculosis infectious disease.