Comparison of anti-candida effects of aqueous, ethanolic extracts and essential oil of E. angustifolia with fluconazole on the growth of clinical strains of Candida

Candida species are opportunistic pathogens that can be considered as the main cause of a wide range of diseases. Due to the increased resistance of these fungi to chemical drugs and also the adverse effects of these compounds on patients, it is necessary to replace these drugs with herbal compounds. In this study, the antifungal effect of aqueous and ethanolic extracts and essential oil of E. angustifolia on the growth of Candida albicans with fluconazole was compared.

In this laboratory study conducted in 1398 in Shahrekord Azad University Biotechnology Research Center, 80 candidate fungal samples were prepared from Parsian Hospital in Shahrekord and 50 Candida albicans samples were isolated by diagnostic tests. E. Angustifolia plants were obtained from Shahrekord Azad University Faculty of Agriculture. The extract was extracted by percolation and the essential oil was extracted by water distillation. The antifungal effect of E. angustifolia extracts along with E. angustifolia essential oil with fluconazole was compared on these isolates by disk diffusion and microdilution methods.

The minimum and maximum diameter zone of inhibation obtained by disk diffusion method for E. angustifolia extracts, no growth halo formation with 1 and the lowest and maximum halo diameter for E. angustifolia essential oil were 6 and 37 mm. Therefore, the mean diameter of non-growth zone of inhibation for E. angustifolia extracts was 1 and for E. angustifoliathe essential oil was 23.4 mm. Comparison of the mean diameter of 25 mg fluconazole inhibition zone as control with an average of 16.26 mm shows a weaker antifungal performance and a significant difference compared to E. angustifolia essential oil. (P ≤ 0.05). The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of ethanolic and aqueous extracts of E. angustifolia and fluconazole were 4, 8, and 8 mg/ml, respectively; While the minimum fungicidal concentrations(MFC) were 8, 16, and 8 mg/ml, respectively; Showed a significant difference in inhibition of E. angustifoli ethanolic extract compared to 25 mg fluconazole disk (P ≤ 0.01).

According to the results of the above research, it seems that the ethanolic extract of E. angustifoliacan be used as a suitable drug candidate with better antifungal performance than fluconazole in the pharmaceutical industry.