ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY FROM HAEMOLYMPH OF FRESHWATER CRAB OF GENUS MAYDELLIATHELPHUSA AGAINST RESPIRATORY TRACT PATHOGENS Short Communication

Objective: To study the antibacterial activity using haemolymph from a freshwater crab species of genus Maydelliathelphusa against respiratory tract pathogens. Methods: 3 ml of haemolymph was collected from the live animal with a fine sterile syringe and tested for antibacterial assay by the well diffusion method. Different quantities viz. 10μl, 20μl and 30μl of haemolymph were loaded in agar plates having bacterial strains and kept for incubation at 37 °C for 24 h to test the development of bacteria. Further, the efficacy of haemolymph against bacteria was compared with antibiotic erythromycin, used as positive control. Results: The results reported the strong inhibitory action of the haemolymph against the pathogens in the present study. The lowest zone of inhibition was observed against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) and the highest zone of inhibition was observed against Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae). Erythromycin, as a positive control and Di-Methyl Sulfoxide (DMSO), as a negative control were used to check the sensitivity of pathogens. The minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) of the haemolymph for the studied bacteria was ranged between 6.25 mg/ml and 12.5 mg/ml. Maximum inhibition % (151.12) and minimum inhibition % (12.87) of haemolymph was calculated for S. pneumoniae and K. pneumoniae respectively during the study. Conclusion: Study concluded that the haemolymph has a good antibacterial activity as it suppresses the growth of the bacteria completely at very low concentrations.