Comparative efficacies of Zataria multiflora essential oil and itraconazole against disseminated Candida albicans infection in BALB/c mice

Abstract

Disseminated candidiasis is a serious problem in public health that results from the invasion of Candida species, in particular Candida albicans. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacies of Zataria multiflora essential oil and itraconazole in clearing C. albicans from the visceral organs of BALB/c mice suffered from disseminated candidiasis. Zataria multiflora essential oil was extracted using Clevenger-type apparatus and analyzed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). For clearance experiment, mice (20-25 g, N=8 per group) received essential oil at doses of 30, 48 and 64 mg/kg and itraconazole at dose of 200 mg/kg intraperitoneally (IP) 2 days before and after intravenous inoculation of 0.5 × 106 C. albicans blastospores. The treated animals were sacrificed on day 20, and 0.1 g of the tissue homogenates was plated onto specific media. In GC-Mass, the main components of the essential oil were carvacrol (61.29%) and thymol (25.18%). The results demonstrated that IP administration of 64 mg/kg of the essential oil had the highest efficacy in reducing C. albicans and produced 39.5, 21.8, 141.5, 174 and 501-fold reductions in mean CFUs per 0.1 gram in Candida infections of the liver, spleen, lungs, brain and kidneys, respectively, compared to positive control. Itraconazole showed significantly more responsiveness than the essential oil at dose of 30 mg/kg in clearing C. albicans from the kidneys (P<0.02), brain (P<0.02) and spleen (P<0.04), and less responsiveness than that of 64 mg/kg in clearing the organism from the brain (P<0.01), lungs (P<0.0005) and kidneys (P<0.0005), whereas no significant difference was observed between this drug and Z. multiflora at dose of 48 mg/kg. These data explain the increased rate of yeast clearance and reduced dissemination to the viscera of Z. multiflora treated mice.

Anti- Candida zeylanoides activity of some Iranian plants used in traditional medicine

“…In a previous study conducted by Naeini et al [25], the EOs of Z. multiflora showed a significant degree of antifungal activity (55 mm inhibition zone) against C. albicans (P < 0.05), while the oils of Z. clinopodiodes (45 mm), N. sativa (35 mm) and H. persicum (20 mm) exhibited a moderate to weak pattern of inhibition. Our results are in agreement with other studies, which showed the strong inhibitory effect of Z. multiflora on different Candida species [23,29,35] and Malassezia species [26]. In addition, the antifungal activities of the oils of Z. clinopodioides [5] and N. sativa [22] were tested against different pathogenic and saprophytic fungi.…”

Comparing the Effect of Garlic, Zataria multiflora and Clotrimazole Vaginal Cream 2% on Improvement of Fungal Vaginitis: A Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Laboratory studies have shown that certain herbs, like ZMB and geranium, also have antimicrobial effect, similar to azole drugs (25).…”

Antiinflammatory, Antioxidant, and Immunological Effects of Carum copticum L. and Some of Its Constituents

“…Khosravi et al . () used Z. multiflora essential oil (containing 61.29% carvacrol and 25.18% thymol) in mice infected with C. albicans . According to their results, the colony‐forming unit of Candida in the liver, spleen, lungs, brain, and kidneys reduced in the treated group compare with the control group, which likely reflects stimulation of the immune system by this plant.…”