In vitro and in vivo antifungal activity of Allium hirtifolium and Allium sativum

Abstract

<strong><span style="font-size: medium;">Objective:</span></strong><span style="font-size: medium;"> One of the major clinical problems is the resistance of <em>Candida</em></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> species</span><span style="font-size: medium;">towards most of antifungals. The search for new antifungal drug from plants have helped to overcome this problem. This study evaluated the effects of </span><em><span style="font-size: medium;">Allium hirtifolium</span></em><span style="font-size: medium;"> and </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><em>Allium sativum</em></span><span style="font-size: medium;">extracts on </span><em><span style="font-size: medium;">Candida tropicalis</span></em><span style="font-size: medium;"> both </span><em><span style="font-size: medium;">in vitro</span></em><span style="font-size: medium;"> and in a mouse model of systemic candidiasis.</span><br /> <strong><span style="font-size: medium;">Materials and Methods:</span></strong><span style="font-size: medium;"> In this study, clinical isolates of <em>C</em></span><span style="font-size: medium;">. </span><em><span style="font-size: medium;">tropicalis</span></em><span style="font-size: medium;"> were isolated and identified from immunocompromised patients with recurrent candidiasis</span><em><span style="font-size: medium;">.</span></em><span style="font-size: medium;"> Antifungal susceptibilities assessment and time kill study of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of </span><em><span style="font-size: medium;">A. hirtifolium</span></em><span style="font-size: medium;"> and </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><em>A. sativum</em></span><span style="font-size: medium;">extracts were done against </span><em><span style="font-size: medium;">C</span></em><span style="font-size: medium;">. </span><em><span style="font-size: medium;">tropicalis</span></em><span style="font-size: medium;">. The </span><em><span style="font-size: medium;">in vivo</span></em><span style="font-size: medium;"> activity of aqueous extracts of </span><em><span style="font-size: medium;">A. hirtifolium</span></em><span style="font-size: medium;"> and </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><em>A. sativum</em></span><span style="font-size: medium;">were evaluated in a mouse model of systemic</span><span style="font-size: medium;">candidiasis caused by</span><em><span style="font-size: medium;"> C</span></em><span style="font-size: medium;">. </span><em><span style="font-size: medium;">tropicalis</span></em><span style="font-size: medium;"> through estimating the host survival time, fungal burden and histopathologic analyses.</span><br /> <strong><span style="font-size: medium;">Results:</span></strong><span style="font-size: medium;"> The aqueous and ethanolic extracts of <em>A. hirtifolium</em></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> and </span><em><span style="font-size: medium;">A. sativum </span></em><span style="font-size: medium;">exhibited significant antifungal activity against </span><em><span style="font-size: medium;">C</span></em><span style="font-size: medium;">. </span><em><span style="font-size: medium;">tropicalis</span></em><span style="font-size: medium;">. In time kill study, </span><em><span style="font-size: medium;">A. hirtifolium</span></em><span style="font-size: medium;"> and </span><em><span style="font-size: medium;">A. sativum</span></em><span style="font-size: medium;"> extracts exhibited significant effects against </span><em><span style="font-size: medium;">C</span></em><span style="font-size: medium;">. </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><em>tropicalis </em>(</span><span style="font-size: medium;">p</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><0.05</span><span style="font-size: medium;">). Treatment of BALB/c mice that were systemically</span><span style="font-size: medium;">infected with </span><em><span style="font-size: medium;">C. tropicalis</span></em><span style="font-size: medium;">, showed that treatments with </span><em><span style="font-size: medium;">A. hirtifolium</span></em><span style="font-size: medium;"> and </span><em><span style="font-size: medium;">A. sativum </span></em><span style="font-size: medium;">(at 1 mg/kg/day) were slightly less efficacious than that of fluconazole in terms of the fungal burden reduction and host survival time, it was still effective against </span><em><span style="font-size: medium;">C.</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> tropicalis</span></em><span style="font-size: medium;">.</span><br /> <strong><span style="font-size: medium;">Conclusion:</span></strong><span style="font-size: medium;"> These findings demonstrate the anticandidal properties of <em>A. hirtifolium</em></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> and </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><em>A. sativum</em></span><span style="font-size: medium;">extracts </span><em><span style="font-size: medium;">in vitro</span></em><span style="font-size: medium;"> and </span><em><span style="font-size: medium;">in vivo</span></em><span style="font-size: medium;"> and suggest their potential to be used as an adjuvant therapy in the management of </span><em><span style="font-size: medium;">Candida</span></em><span style="font-size: medium;"> infections.</span>