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BACKGROUND: Otitis externa is the fungal and bacterial infection of the outer ear. AIM: We aimed to investigate the published papers about the outer ear infections in Iran and suggest standardised investigations and treatments. METHODS: We used different electronic databases like PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Iranmedex, Google Scholar, and Magiran with specific keywords. RESULTS: We obtained forty published full-text articles for review of data. Our results indicated the women were more infected than men. The ages of patients were < 1-81 years. As clinically symptoms, itching and Feel the ear fairy were the most common presenting complaints in most cases. Most infections were the pure bacterial and fungal origin, respectively. However, some of the studies were mixed fungal-bacterial infections - Pseudomonas spp. And Aspergillus niger were the most common bacteria and fungi isolates respectively in Iranian patents. CONCLUSION: Fungal and bacterial specific cultures may be recommended, and anti-fungal drugs may be added, to treatment regimens in patients with otitis externa to reduce the clinical symptoms.
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INTRODUCTION: Because of resistance and side effects to common antifungal drugs activity, the research on herbal substances with antifungal activity is frequent. Lemon verbena (Lippia citriodora) is a member of Verbenaceae family. The aim of this study was to determine the anti-candida activities of the ethanolic and aqueous extracts of the lemon verbena leaves and compare them with nystatin and fluconazole. METHODS: In this 2015 study, 15 clinical isolates and standard strain of candida albicans PTCC 5027 were used, and the inhibitory effects of the ethanolic and aqueous extracts, Nystatin and Fluconazole, were evaluated using disk and well diffusion methods. Also, the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined. Five concentrations of aqueous and ethanolic extracts (156-2500 µg/ml), Nystatin (8-128 µg/ml) and Fluconazole (4-64 µg/ml) were used in disk and well diffusion methods, and nine concentrations of aqueous and ethanolic extracts (19-5000 µg/ml), Nystatin (0.5-128 µg/ml), and Fluconazole (0.25-64 µg/ml) were applied for MIC. Data were analyzed using Tukey's post-hoc and one-way ANOVA tests. The significant level was considered p < 0.05 in the current study. RESULTS: In the well and disk diffusion techniques, limited growth inhibition halos were produced around some clinical isolates at different concentrations of ethanolic extract; however, no growth inhibitory halo was observed with any concentrations of the aqueous extract. The MIC values of ethanolic extract, aqueous extract, Nystatin and Fluconazole for clinical isolated and standard strain were 833 ± 78.5and 625µg/ml; 4156 ± 67.4 and 2500 µg/ml; 10.13 ± 1.91 and 4 µg/ml; and 1.97 ± 0.25 and 1 µg/ml, respectively. CONCLUSION: The results showed that the ethanolic extract was stronger than the aqueous extract of this plant, which can be used as an alternative for drugs. It is recommended that the ethanolic extract of this plant be investigated in vivo for better evaluation of its efficacy and properties.
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BACKGROUND: Otomycosis is an external ear canal infection caused by various fungi. This disease is prevalent in some tropical and subtropical regions or countries. OBJECTIVES: Given the crucial role of fungal agents in the treatment of the disease, the aim of the present study was to identify the fungi in ear canal of patients with otomycosis admitted to the hospitals in Babol City, Iran. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study included 56 patients with otomycosis. After removal of ear infectious samples, some of them were placed on the slides for direct examination and also a portion of them was plated on the Sabouraud dextrose agar with chloramphenicol for fungal growth. The slides were studied for the presence of fungal elements. Conventional methods were performed to determine fungal colonies. RESULTS: Thirty-three patients (55.36%) were female and the rest were male. Fungal elements were observed in 11 cases (19.64%) in the direct examination, alone, and 45 specimens (80.36%) had fungi and bacteria combined. Septate mycelia, with 43 cases, had the most frequent fungal elements in direct examination. Aspergillus and Candida genera were the prevalent fungal colonies in culture media. CONCLUSIONS: According to the role of different genera of fungi in the process of otomycosis, much attention on the macroscopic and microscopic examination of the samples leads to special treatment decisions of a physician.