Background and objective: Candida albicans is an oral commensal flora that causes opportunistic local and systemic infections in immunocompromied individuals. Fluconazole is frequently used for treating patients with active infections or preventing recurrent infections. The emergence of resistant strains encouraged scientists to search for compounds that have antifungal property and can overcome the usual microbial resistant mechanisms to antimicrobial agents. Essential oils from natural plants have received great interest due to the antimicrobial property of their multiple constituents. The aim of this study was to investigate the antifungal activity of Rosemary and Thyme essential oils against fluconazole resistant oral Candida albicans isolates. Methods: Essential oil from areal parts of Rosemarium officinalis and Thymus vulgaris were obtained by hydrodistillation. Disk diffusion and microbroth dilution methods were followed to test the sensitivity of eight fluconazole resistant oral Candida albicans isolates and one ATCC strain to the extracted Essential oils. Minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum fungicidal concentration were used to evaluate the antifungal potential of the tested essential oils. Results: The results of disk diffusion method using concentrated Essential oils showed marked inhibition of growth around the prepared discs from both Essential oils. However, the recoded diameters was higher in Thyme Essential oil (Mean ± SD: 42.4 ± 6.5) when compared with Rosemary essential oil (Mean ± SD: 11.8 ± 2.8). Serial two fold dilutions of the tested essential oils showed that both essential oils attain their antifungal activities even at very low concentrations. The highest MIC and MFC of Rosemary EO were 3.125% and 6.25%, respectively. Thyme essential oil showed very low MIC and MFC (<1.56%). Conclusion: Thyme and Rosemary essential oils were ideal natural compounds against drug resistant Candida albicans strains.

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Objective: Candida constitutes the main yeast flora in the oral cavity. Different species are known with C. albicans being the principal one. In healthy individuals, the balance among the oral microbial flora is maintained. However, this equilibrium might be altered in certain diseases resulting in the predominance of yeast flora over other microorganisms and behave as pathogens. Thalassemias constitute a large group of immunocompromised patients in our country with multiple hematological, immunological and endocrine disorders making them susceptible to local and systemic opportunistic yeast infections. Fluconazole is a globally used antifungal antibiotic especially in treating recurrent infections in immunocompromised patients. Little is known about the oral yeast carriage in the healthy individuals and thalassemic patients in our population, and their susceptibility pattern to fluconazole. This study has been done to assess the frequency of oral Candida carriage in a group of β-thalassemia major patients and sex and age-matched healthy controls, and to evaluate the susceptibility pattern of the isolates to fluconazole.

The conducted study compares the phytochemical and the antimicrobial potential of four varieties of Brassica napus seed oils. The plant seeds were cultivated during the winter growing season. Soxhlet extractor and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS) were used for essential oil analysis. The micro broth dilutionassay was applied to test the antimicrobial potential (MIC: Minimum inhibitory concentration, MBC: Minimum bactericidal concentration) of the extracted essential oils against different bacterial strains. A total of 56 phytochemicals were found, including 23 and 25 compounds in the oils of Pactol and Rapifera seed varieties,respectively, and 21 compounds in each of Bacara and Rally seed oils. Oleic acid constituted about 35.79 %, 15.62%, 7%, and 2.41 % for Rally, Bacara, Rapifera, and Pactol seed oils, respectively. Gram-positive bacteria, Streptococcus pyogenes and Streptococcus agalactiae, showed lower resistance potentials (MIC= 0.78%, 3.125%respectively) (MBC=1.36%, 6.25% respectively) to the essential oils compared with Staphylococcus aureus. Escherichia coli showed higher sensitivity (6.25% and 12.5% for MIC and MBC, respectively) than Klebsiella pneumonia and Pseudomonas aeruginosa to the B. napus seed oils. Gram-positive bacteria weremore sensitive to the tested essential oils than Gram-negative bacteria. Overall, four different seed varieties have important chemicals and fatty acids. Oleic acid was the most common carboxylic acid (fatty acid) and 2,4-decadienal with hexanal were the most prevalent aldehydes in four seed oils. Tested B. napus seed essential oilsshowed antimicrobial activities against various Gram-positive and negative bacteria and Candida albicans, with Pactol seed oils exerting the highest activity.

Background: A diverse group of bacteria live in biofilms in the oral cavity. On dental surfaces biofilms form plaque that is potentially involved in caries and periodontal diseases. Periodic studying of plaque microflora and their antimicrobial sensitivity patterns strongly affects the clinical practice in plaque-induced oral diseases. Materials and methods: Dental plaque samples were collected from 22 patients having ages ranged between 33 and 49 years with gingivitis that met the study criteria. Plaque, gingival and gingival bleeding indices (PI, GI, GBI) were measured for each patient. Laboratory procedures included microbiological examination of plaque samples followed by antibiotic sensitivity testing using disc diffusion method were also proceeded. Results: All patients were categorized as moderate gingivitis (GI: 1.1-2.0), the recorded PI were 1.2-2.7. Bleeding was observed in all subjects. Gingivitis was significantly higher in males (P=0.021). A total of 121 bacterial species were isolated from plaque samples, Facultative anaerobes constitute 83%. The most frequently isolated bacteria were α-hemolytic streptococci (36.36%) and Enterococcus faecalis (14.87%) among facultative, and Fusobacterium sp., Actinomyces sp., Veillonella sp. among obligate anaerobes (3.31%, 2.48%, 2.48%, respectively). Imipenem (77.2%) and Ciprofloxacin (59.4%) were the most effective agents against both bacterial groups. Multi-drug resistance (MDR) was recorded in most of the isolates (> 90%). A very highly significant relation between MDR with each of the above clinical criteria was recorded (P-value= 0.000). Conclusions:The high level of MDR isolates is of great clinical concern and requires an urgent reassessment of the policies of antibiotic prescription in dental settings.