Antibacterial Activity of Lauric Acid on Some Selected Clinical Isolates

This was an in vitro study to scrutinize the intensity of lauric acid on inhibiting some clinical isolates from patients with urinary tract infection, respiratory tract infection and digestive tract infection. Isolates used for this study were gotten from General Hospital Maitama, Abuja. Media were prepared according to manufacturer's instructions and all biochemical tests of the presumptive organisms were conducted according to standard methods. Organisms isolated were Streptococcus pneumonia and Mycobacterium tuberculosis from respiratory tract, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus from Urinary tract and Salmonella spp. from intestinal tract accordingly. Lauric acid was esterified from coconut oil through freezing method. Bauer-Kirby disc diffusion assay was adopted for the inhibitory experiment. Zones of inhibition were measured in diametre. Lauric acid demonstrated the highest zones of inhibition on Staphylococcus aureus 15 mm 1.414 mm and Streptococcus pneumoniae 15 mm 0.000 mm at the highest dilution factor of 1:10 followed by Mycobacterium tuberculosis spp. having a diametre of 14 mm 1.414 mm and the lowest inhibition on Escherichia coli and Salmonella with a diametre 8 mm 0.000 mm at the same dilution factor while the lowest inhibition was 1 mm 1.414 mm and 1 mm 0.000 mm on Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pneumonia at the lowest dilution concentration 1:100000. The acid generally proved effective against Gram positive bacteria used in this study even at the lowest concentration while other Gram-negative organisms showed resistance at the lowest concentration. This study recommends the use of this acid in combating some of the microbial strains that are resistance to antibiotics. Further study of this acid on other pathogenic organisms including the non-cellular strains (viruses) should be considered.