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Abstract

Background and Objective Opportunistic bacterial infections are one of the predominant cause of morbidity and mortality amongst HIV infected patients. In this study, the potency of Black seed and Lemon oil against bacteria isolated from HIV seropositive samples of patients attending a selected specialist hospital in Akure, Nigeria and their antibiotics sensitivity profile were investigated. Materials and Methods A total of 12 blood and urine samples were analyzed following their CD4 count determination. The bacteria isolates were identified using standard microbiological techniques. The antibiotics profile was carried out using Kirby-Bauers disc diffusion method while the antibacterial activity of the essential oils were done using agar well diffusion method. Results About 66 had a CD4 count between 200-600 cells L1501 while 34 had CD4 count in the normal range 600 cells L1501. Out of the 7 isolated bacterial species, B. cereus and P. aeruginosa had the highest percentage of occurrence in the blood and urine samples, respectively Pefloxacin and Ciprofloxacin showed a broad spectrum of activity against all the test isolates. Both Lemon and Black seed oils were effective at 10 concentration on all the isolates and compared favorably with the commercial antibiotics. Black seed oil was observed to possess higher antibacterial activity against the isolates compared to lemon oil, with higher zones of inhibition values of above 13.000.40d mm, which was the highest observed on B. cereus with lemon oil, while the highest potent activity of black seed oil was observed on C. xerosis 18.670.88e mm. Conclusion The essential oils showed better antibacterial activity against the co-infected bacterial pathogens and can serve as potential candidate for therapeutic purposes.