Antimicrobial Activities of Thai Traditional Remedy “Kheaw-Hom” and Its Plant Ingredients for Skin Infection Treatment in Chickenpox
Kanmanee Sukkasem BATM*, Sumalee Panthong BSc**, Arunporn Itharat PhD**,***
Affiliation : * Master student of Science (Applied Thai Traditional Medicine), Faculty of Medicine, Thammasat University, Pathumthani, Thailand ** Department of Applied Thai Traditional Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Thammasat University, Pathumthani, Thailand *** Center of Excellence on Applied Thai Traditional Medicine Research (CEATMR), Faculty of Medicine, Thammasat University, Pathumthani, Thailand
Background : Kheaw-Hom is a Thai traditional remedy which appears in the National List of Essential Medicines 2011. This
remedy consists of eighteen Thai medicinal plants. It has long been used in folk medicine to treat fever, measles, chickenpox
and skin infection, but there has been no scientific report on antimicrobial activities of this remedy.
Objective : To investigate antimicrobial activities of Kheaw-Hom remedy extracts and its plant ingredients.
Material and Method: Kheaw-Hom remedy and each of its plant ingredients were extracted by maceration in 95% ethanol
and decoction in water to obtain ethanolic extract and aqueous extract, respectively. All extracts were tested for antimicrobial
activities by microtiter plate-based assay to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the minimum
microbicidal concentration (MMC) values against Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
aureus (DMST 20651), Staphylococcus epidermidis (ATCC 12228) and Candida albicans (ATCC 90028).
Results : The ethanolic extract of Kheaw-Hom remedy showed antimicrobial activities against Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-
resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis with MIC values of 0.625, 0.625 and 1.25 mg/ml, respectively
and MMC values of 1.25, 0.625 and 2.5 mg/ml, respectively. Among all the ethanolic extracts of its plant ingredients, that of
Mammea siamensis showed the highest activity with MIC values of 0.005, 0.005 and 0.039 mg/ml and MMC values of 0.005,
0.005 and 0.039 mg/ml, respectively. The weak activity against bacteria was found in the aqueous extract of some plant
ingredients. The ethanolic and aqueous extracts of Kheaw-Hom remedy and the aqueous extract of its plant ingredients had
no activity against C. albicans but the ethanolic extract of Sophora exigua showed the highest activities against Candida
albicans with MIC values of 0.625 mg/ml and MMC values of 0.625 mg/ml.
Conclusion : The ethanolic extracts of Kheaw-Hom remedy had antimicrobial activity against S. aureus, methicillin-resistant
S. aureus and S. epidermidis that are causes of skin infection from chickenpox. These results support the use of Kheaw-Hom
remedy for skin infection treatment in chickenpox.
Keywords : Antimicrobial activity, Chickenpox, Kheaw-Hom remedy, Skin infection
