The Antifungal Activity of Skin Secretion and its Extract of Indian Toad Bufo melanostictus

Abstract

The present study was aimed to determine the antifungal activity of skin secretion and its extract of Indian toad Bufo melanostictus (Schneider). Amphibian skin possesses a wide variety of biologically active substances that can be used in therapeutics. For the present investigation, the toads and frogs were induced to release a skin secretion using electrical stimulation by using platinum electrodes rubbed over the moistened dorsal skin surface for 10sec. The collected skin secretions were filtered-sterilized, freeze dried and subjected to antifungal assay. Antifungal activity of the toad skin secretion was tested on A sthana-Hawkers agar medium plates seeded with the species of Aspergillus Niger, Penicillium notatum through well diffusion technique by using minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) method. An inhibition was observed with 40µl/ml of toad skin secretion. According to our observations, the skin secretion and its extract of toad have shown antifungal activity against two strains of A. niger and P. notatum. Both the skin secretion and its extract have shown nearest inhibition zones i.e. viz., 23mm, 27mm and 25mm, 23mm respectively, therefore the toad skin secretion and its extract possess has the potential to be developed as a source of antifungal agents. CONCLUSIONSFrom our present results, it can be concluded that the skin secretion and its extracts of toad B melanostictus has the potential to develop as a source of antifungal agents and can be used in the treatment of various diseases. This suggests that the studies have to be focused on frog skin secretion and its extract and further studies should be carried out using different approaches depending on the purpose of the study.