Plants of the Phytolaccaceae family with antimicrobial activity: A systematic review

Phytolaccaceae is a plant family of the order Caryophyllales, which includes species used in traditional medicine to treat diseases. The purpose of this study was to investigate Phytolaccaceae family plants with potential antimicrobial action, through a systematic review. The study was conducted following the criteria of PRISMA protocol. The search was performed in the electronic databases PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and LILACS, in March 2021. The search strategy used free descriptors and terms, limiting articles to the English language, regardless of publication year. The risk of bias and the quality of publications were based on the CONSORT checklist, modified for in vitro studies and SYRCLE's RoB tool for in vivo study. Five independent judges performed quality assessments of publications and risk of bias analysis. Ninety-five publications were retrieved from the databases and, after screening and eligibility criteria, 22 articles remained, from 1998 to 2019. In the selected studies, the plants were obtained from eight countries. In vivo and in vitro studies of extracts from the Phytolaccaceae family plants, evaluating antibacterial (8 publications), antifungal (8), anti-Trypanosoma (2), anti-Leishmania (2), antiviral (1), and antiamoebic (1) activities, are included. The plant species identified belong to genera Petiveria, Phytolacca, Gallesia, Trichostigma, and Seguieria. The risk of bias in the 22 publications both in vitro and in vitro was suboptimal. The evidence obtained showed that the Phytolaccaceae family, a source of plants with antimicrobial action, can serve as a basis for the creation of new herbal medicines, expanding the possibility of treatment for infectious diseases and stimulating their preservation and biodiversity. However, more high-quality studies are needed to establish the clinical efficacy of the plant.