The anti-dermatophyte activity of Zataria multiflora essential oils.

OBJECTIVE: Dermtophytes are a group of pathogenic fungi and the major cause of dermatophytosis in humans and animals. Fighting dermatophytes by natural essential oils is one important issue in new researches. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this investigation, we evaluated the anti-dermatophyte activities of three samples of Z. multiflora essential oils against dermatophytes along with analysis of chemical compositions of the essential oils and their anti-elastase activities on elastase production in dermatophytes. RESULTS: Carvacrol (1.5-34.4%), thymol (25.8-41.2%), carvacrol methyl ether (1.9-28.3%) and p-cymene (2.3-8.3%) were the main components of Z. multiflora essential oils. Z. multiflora essential oils (100ppm) inhibited the mycelium growth of dermatophytes (6±1.7-47.0±1.4%) and had the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal fungicidal concentration (MFC) values of 0.03-0.25µl/ml against dermatophytes. Essential oils inhibited elastase produced in dermatophytes and pure porcine elastase. CONCLUSION: Z. multiflora essential oils can be used as natural anti-dermatophyte agent for fighting dermatophytes in further preclinical and clinical studies.

The anti-candidal activity of Satureja khuzistanica ethanol extract against clinical isolates of C. albicans.

Candida albicans is the common cause of some infectious diseases such as vaginal candidiasis or candidemia. Due to the emergence of drug resistant isolates of C. albicans, finding a new anti-Candida agent is a new strategy for current treatments. This study evaluated the anti-candidal activity of Satureja khuzistanica ethanol extract against clinical isolates of C. albicans. S. khuzistanica ethanol extract from aerial parts of plant at full flowering stage was evaluated against 30 clinical isolates and two ATCC reference strains of C. albicans by disc diffusion and micro-broth dilution assay. Also, in this study we evaluated the synergistic effects of amphotericin B, clotrimazole and ketoconazole with S. khuzistanica ethanol extract. The means of MIC and MFC of S. khuzistanica ethanol extract against clinical isolates were 299.4 and 722.6 (µg/mL), respectively. S. khuzistanica ethanol extract increased the anti-candidal effect of amphotericin B and ketoconazole, while it had no synergistic effect on clotrimazole against clinical isolates of C. albicans. Therefore, S. khuzistanica ethanol extract can be introduced as a new source of anti-candidal agent against clinical isolates of C. albicans.

The antifungal activity of Artemisia sieberi essential oil from different localities of Iran against dermatophyte fungi.

Dermatophyte fungi are the most common cause of dermatophytosis in humans and animals. Artemisia sieberi is traditionally used for treatment of fungi related skin infections. In this investigation, we analyzed five samples of A. sieberi oils (different harvesting times and distinctive collecting locations) by GC-FID and GC-MS. The antifungal activities of A. sieberi oils were evaluated against different dermatophytes. The anti-elastase activities of essential oils were also evaluated. The results of analysis showed that the harvesting time and collecting location can affect the chemical compositions and oil yields. The best time for collecting the A. sieberi with high yield was spring season (January-February). There was no significant difference between the desirable anti-dermatophyte activities of A. sieberi oils with different chemical compositions. M. gypseum, T. rubrum and M. canis had more sensitivity than others to A. sieberi oils. The oils with higher amounts of α-thujone, ß-thujone showed the higher anti-elastase activity. Therefore, A. sieberi can be used as topical antifungal agent for treatment of skin dermatophyte infections.

The anti-dermatophyte activity of Allium hirtifolium Boiss aqueous extract.

In an attempt at demonstrating the efficacy of Allium hirtifolium aqueous extract in control of skin fungal infections as traditional use, we evaluated the anti-dermatophyte activities of A. hirtifolium aqueous extract from bulbs and of ketoconazole against Trichophyton rubrum, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Microsporum canis, M. gypseum, Trichophyton schoenleinii and Trichophyton verrucosum var. album by food poisoning technique, disc diffusion and micro broth dilution assays. The anti-fungal activity of A. hirtifolium was excellent when it was compared with ketoconazole. The anti-fungal evaluation by food poisoning method showed that A. hirtifolium extract inhibited the growth of dermatophytes dose-dependently. The inhibition zone diameter (IZ) of A. hirtifolium extract (15 µg/disc) was in the range of 28.8 ± 0.31 to 67.7 ± 1.5mm, while ketoconazole (15 µg/disc) had the IZ lower than 13mm. The MIC and MFC values of A. hirtifolium extract were in the range of 0.2-1.7 and 0.4-0.7 µg/mL; respectively. Therefore, A. hirtifolium extract showed a strong anti-fungal activity against human and animal dermatophytes.

Synergistic activity between Echinophora platyloba DC ethanolic extract and azole drugs against clinical isolates of Candida albicans from women suffering chronic recurrent vaginitis.

OBJECTIVE: Candida albicans is one of the main causes of vaginitis, especially in women with recurrent episodes. The appearance of drug resistant C. albicans and adverse effects of chemical agents have raised interest in Echinophora platyloba as one of four native species in Traditional Persian-Iranian medicine. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study evaluates the antifungal activity of ethanolic extract from dried aerial parts of E. platyloba against 27 clinical isolates of C. albicans from women suffering chronic recurrent vaginitis by micro-broth dilution assay. The synergistic effect of azole drugs and E. platyloba ethanolic extract were also determined by disc diffusion method after determining the MIC90. RESULTS: The results of this study showed a potent synergistic effect of E. platyloba ethanolic extract and itraconazole (P<0.01) and fluconazole (P<0.001) but an antagonistic effect between E. platyloba ethanolic extract and clotrimazole and miconazole against clinical isolates of C. albicans. CONCLUSION: These results must be confirmed by clinical application and by further clinical studies.

In vitro synergistic efficacy of combination of amphotericin B with Myrtus communis essential oil against clinical isolates of Candida albicans.

In this study, we evaluated the antifungal activity of the essential oil from Myrtus communis (myrtle) leaves against Candida albicans (eight clinical isolates and one ATCC type strains) and different species of Aspergillus sp (A. niger, A. parasiticus, six isolates of Aspergillus flavus) using broth micro dilution assay. In addition, we evaluated the synergistic effect between the essential oil and the antifungal compound amphotericin B by checkboard micro titer assay. The essential oil was obtained from myrtle leaves by hydrodistillation method and the oil was analyzed by GC and GC-MS methods. Chemical analysis of oil revealed the presence of 70 components, representing 99.23% of the total oil. 1,8-cineole (36.1%), alpha-pinene (22.5%), linalool (8.4%), bornyl acetate (5.2%), alpha-terpineol (4.4%), linalyl acetate (4.2%) and limonene (3.8%) were found to be the major components of the oil. The antifungal evaluating showed that myrtle oil exhibited good antifungal activity against fungi. Myrtle oil showed significant antifungal activity when combined with amphotericin B.

Antistaphylococcal activity of Zataria multiflora essential oil and its synergy with vancomycin.

Staphylococcus aureus is recognized as one of the major cause of infections in communities and hospitals. In this study, the chemical composition and antistaphylococcal activity of Zataria multiflora Boiss essential oil were evaluated, along with its synergistic activity with vancomycin. The essential oil was obtained by hydrodistillation from aerial parts of the plant and analyzed using GC and GC-MS. Thymol (38.7%), carvacrol (15.3%) and rho-cymene (10.2%) were the main components of the oil. Antibacterial activity of the oil was evaluated by microbroth dilution assay against clinical isolates of methicillin -resistant (MR) and methicillin-sensitive (MS) strains of S. aureus. The oil showed high antibacterial activity against MRSA and MSSA with minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) values in the range of 0.25-1 and 0.5-2microl/ml, respectively. The synergistic action was evaluated by microtiter assay. The essential oil exhibited synergism with vancomycin and displayed the ability to enhance the activity of vancomycin. This study showed that Z. multiflora oil has significant antimicrobial activity against clinical isolates of S. aureus, especially MRSA, and might be useful in controlling MRSA infections.

The Antimicrobial Activity of Essential Oil from Perovskia abrotanoides Karel and its Main Components.

In Iranian folk medicine, Perovskia abrotanoides is used for treatment of leishmaniasis. These patients may develop secondary infections with opportunistic microorganisms. Therefore, the antimicrobial activity of essential oil from aerial part of P. abrotanoides and its main components was evaluated against different microorganisms. Disc diffusion and broth micro dilution assays were used for in vitro antimicrobial screening. The antibacterial activity of this oil and main components on viability of S. aureus was determined. The oil showed antimicrobial activity against Candida albicans and Gram positive bacteria especially Staphylococcus aureus with zone inhibitions and minimal inhibitory concentration values in the range of 7.6 to 29 mm and 2 to 8 mul/ml respectively, whereas the least susceptible were Aspergillus niger and Gram negative bacteria. In viability test, the results showed that the antimicrobial activity of 1,8-cineole was more than that of alpha-pinene and camphor but after 60 min this effect gradually decreased only for 1,8-cineole and ultimately the antibacterial activity of camphor was more than that of alpha-pinene. 1,8-cineole had weak antimicrobial activity against all of the tested microorganisms. Hence the use of P. abrotanoides oil could be useful in fighting secondary infections in leishmaniasis especially against S. aureus.