An evaluation of the antifungal activity of some local medicinal plants against growth of Candida albicans in vitro

An evaluation of the antifungal activity of some local medicinal plants against growth of Candida albicans in vitro. J.S. Al-Hussaini A. M. G. Al-Mohana Coll. of Vet. Med. Unive. of Al-Qadisiya Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate the antifungal activity of the ethanolic extract of three local plants ( Elettaria cardamomum , Aloe vera, Thyme vulgaris) against the growth of pathogenic Candida albicans in culture media. The antifungal activity was carried out by using agar well diffusion method. Ethanolic extracts of Elettaria cardamomum and Aloe vera inhibited the growth of Candida albicans isolates at all concentrations which tested in present study (25, 50, 100, 150, 200, and 400) mg / ml, while the extract of Thymus vulgaris showed no activity against tested Candida albicans Introduction Nosocomial fungal infections due to Candida species are an important cause of morbidity and mortality especially in immunocompromised patients. The use of available treatment options for invasive mycoses is limited due to narrow spectrum of activity, drug resistance, toxicity, and drug-drug interactions (1, 2). In view of this, there is a need to develop more effective and less topic agents for the treatment of common as well as drug resistant fungal infections .Plants, as sources of medicinal compounds have continued to play dominant role in maintenance of human and animal health since ancient times. The World Health Organization estimates that plant extracts or their active constituents are used as folk medicine in traditional therapies of 80% of the world’s population (3). Over 50% of all modern clinical drugs are of natural product origin (4). The Iraqi flora are rich in different medicinal plants uncommitted in most to any previous study , the possibility to find new antifungal agents is still widely ahead (5), therefore; in the present study we focus on the study of the in vitro effects of number of local medicinal plants against growth of Candida albicans and compare their result with the antifungal activity of standard anti-Candida drug (Clotrimazole, Nystatin) in culture media.