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Prof. (Mrs.) Cynthia Amaning Danquah

College: Health Sciences | Department: Pharmacology

Title of Research: Ghanaian Allium Species as Anti-Infective and Resistance-Reversal Natural Product Leads to Mitigate Multidrug-Resistance in Tuberculosis

Research Summary:

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has named antimicrobial resistance as one of the important public health threats of the 21st century causing persistent infections that claim millions of lives every year with enormous demands on medical and social resources.

Professor Cynthia Amaning Danquah and her team investigated the bulb extracts of selected Ghanaian shallots for their anti-infective, efflux pump and biofilm inhibitory activities as potentially useful leads in our efforts towards the discovery and development of new anti-tuberculosis agents using the High-throughput spot culture growth inhibition (HT-SPOTi) assay she designed for screening extracts and compounds in a resource-limited setting.

The surge in multidrug-resistance has been linked to the increasing failure of antimicrobial therapy coupled with the diminishing numbers of new antibiotics in the drug development pipeline, has intensified the urgency to develop new antimicrobials with novel modes of action for the treatment of infections to save the human race. This is in line with addressing the SDG goal 3 which is to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. 

The findings from this study showed that the bulbs of Ghanaian Allium cepa var aggregatum (shallots) are a source of phytochemical hits or bioactive leads that can be further developed as anti-infective drugs against Tuberculosis.

Web Links:

1. Antibiotics 2021, 10, 902. https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics10080902;   
2. Curr. Protoc. Microbiol. 40:17.8.1-17.8.12.doi: 10.1002/9780471729259.mc1708s40;  
3. http://www.cynthiadanquahgroup.org;  
4. https://webapps.knust.edu.gh/staff/dirsearch/profile/summary/fea37a1254b7.html;  
5. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4287-856X;    https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=M1FOsq4AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao