In vitro antifungal activity of ethanolic crude extracts from five medicinal plants against oral Candida isolates | ||||
| Microbes and Infectious Diseases | ||||
| Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript, Available Online from 01 July 2025 | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/mid.2025.394425.2902 | ||||
 View on SCiNiTO | ||||
| Authors | ||||
Eman Abd Elhady ELMekawy1; Gamal M. Abdel-Fattah1; Ahmed Albehairy2; Rasha Mokhtar Elnagar   3, 4
| ||||
| 1Botany Department, Faculty of Science, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt | ||||
| 2Diabetes and Endocrinology Unit (Internal Medicine Department), Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt | ||||
| 3Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura 35516, Egypt | ||||
| 4Department of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, AlMaarefa University, P.O.Box 71666, Riyadh 11597, Saudi Arabia | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| Background: Recurrent oral candidiasis is a common health problem in immunocompromised individuals, particularly those with diabetes. With rising resistance to conventional antifungals, there is growing interest in screening for safe, natural alternatives. Aim: The study evaluates the antifungal activity of five medicinal herbs against Candida isolates and compares their efficacy to conventional antifungal agents. Methods: The agar well diffusion method was employed to explore the antifungal properties of Syzygium aromaticum, Cinnamomum zeylanicum blume, Zingiber officinale, Trigonella foenum-graecum, and Camellia sinensis against oral Candida isolates obtained from 100 patients with type 2 diabetes. Zone diameters were measured after 24 hours of incubation at 37ºC. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were determined using the microbroth dilution method following the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines. Results: A total of 42 Candida isolates were identified; of which 38 (90.5%) were Candida albicans. The ethanolic extracts of S. aromaticum and C. zeylanicum blume demonstrated the highest antifungal activity, each exhibiting (78.6%). The MICs of S. aromaticum ranged from 62.5 to 1000 µg/ml, with a mean of 250 ± 321.66 µg/ml. Whereas, for C. zeylanicum blume the MICs were 125 to 1000 µg/ml, with a mean of 276.79 ± 299.31µg/ml. Conclusion: The findings indicate a rising resistance of Candida strains to standard antifungals. Notably, S. aromaticum and C. zeylanicum blume exhibited superior in vitro antifungal activity, suggesting their potential as natural alternatives for treatment for oral candidiasis. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| Conventional antifungals; diabetes; medicinal herbs; oral candidiasis; plant extracts | ||||
|
Statistics Article View: 80 |
||||
