In vivo antibacterial effects of garlic aqueous extract on Salmonella typhimurium infected rabbits

Salmonellosis is one of the most common infections in developing countries. Antibiotics used for management, may led not only to drug-resistance, but also to some serious complications. Since antiquity medicinal plants have been used for treatment of diseases, Garlic is one of these agents with multiple effects i.e. antibacterial effects. Sixty rabbits of Dutch-polish race were randomly divided in three equal groups; contaminated with no treatment as the control group, contaminated with treatment by low and high-doses of garlic aqueous extract in the other groups. All rabbits were infected with 1011 CFU of S. typhimurium fourty-eight hours after contamination, garlic aqueous extract was used in treated-groups at 20mg/kg and 40mg/kg three times a day. Stool culture is performed at first before contamination and after 24, 48, 72, 96 and 168 hours of treatment. Bacterial colony count stool showed significant statistics in different days. A significant difference was also seen in colony count of treated groups with non-treated group (p<0.001). But there was no definite difference in stool colony count of treated groups (low dose & high dose). So garlic aqueous extract has antibacterial effects on S.typhimurium. Further studies are recommended for clinical usage of this agent.