Antidermatophyte activity of the essential oil of Hypericum perforatum of north of Iran

Dermatophytes are the main cause of human superficial mycosis that is still a public health problem especially in tropical countries such as Iran. The aim of this study was determining the antifungal effect of Hypercom perforatum essential oil. The minimum inhibitory concentration [MIC] and minimum fungicidal concentration [MFC] for the essential oil of the plant Hypericum perforatum against various dermatophytes were determined. The essential oil of Hypericum perforatum was obtained by hydro distillation of the dried plant. Clinical isolates of dermatophytes [Epidermophyton floccosum, Microsporum canis, Microsporum gypseum, T. mentagrophytes var. interdigital, T. mentagrophytes var. mentagrophytes., T. rubrum and Trichophyton tonsurans] were used for determining antifungal activity of this essential oil by in vitro tube dilution technique. MIC90 and MFC90 values were remarkable. T. mentagrophytes var. interdigital showed a>1 log10 difference in viable count between treatment and control within the first hour, whereas E. floccosum did not. The essential oil of H. perforatum sufficiently inhibited and killed all tested dermatophytes in all different dilutions. The changes in growth curve of the treated dermatophytes were significant compared with the untreated dermatophytes. Terpinen-4-ol is the main component of the essential oil of H. perforatum, and perhaps could play the important role in antidermatophyte activity among the other components. It is suggested trying the in-vivo effects of Hypericum perforatum ointment or its other medicinal forms in the treatment and controlling of dermatophytes infections

Effect of Allicin of garlic on production nitric oxide of macrophage to Candida albicans

Garlic is an herbal plant having various compounds. one of the most important of which is allicin with antibiotic property. Candida Albicans is opportunistic yeast which in case of immune system dysfunction is considered as a pathogenic agent. Immune mechanisms against this fungus are Macrophages which act with oxidative and non-oxidative fungicide mechanisms. Oxidative mechanism includes active oxygen and nitrogen mediators which are produced by active macrophages and thereby the microorganisms are eliminated. The aim of this study was to investigate Allicin effects on the increase activites macrophage to product of Nitric Oxide It is examined in this study the effect of garlic allicin on macrophages' activity in releasing Nitric oxide against Candida Albicans. Garlic allicin was prepared by the method of chloroformic extract, and then made to react with macrophages from male mouse Balb/c with 2-8 week of age in vitro. Candida Albicans was divided into two groups: with and without allicin. Both cases compared as positive and negative samples, the rate of macrophages' activity was determined through production of Nitric Oxide. After examining the rate of Nitric Oxide produced by macrophages, results showed that allicin as a natural material activates immune system against this fungus, so that macrophages with allicin can produce more Nitric Oxide than the group without allicin. This was obtained by comparing the results from these two groups and the control group. Regarding the important role of Candida Albicans in Candidiasis and applying the preventing agents by this fungus in suppressing the macrophages' activities in producing Nitric Oxide, and also by studying related literatures, we concluded that allicin extracted from garlic can affect greatly on the macrophages' activities in producing Nitric Oxide against agents of Candidiasis disease

Evaluation of the susceptibility of dermatophytes to garlic extract

In this study, we evaluated the activity of garlic extract against Dermatophytes which is planned to be used instead of chemical durgs. Garlic has been widely used as medicine since ancient times for varieties of illnesses, including abdominal pain, parasitic infection, insect and snakebites, hemorrhoid and rheumatism. In the last decades, garlic has been reported to display antibiotic and antifungi activities. Garlic was obtained from Hamadan, Iran. Using the Mantis method, dry garlic bulbs were peeled and homogenized with two parts of distilled water in a blender and liquid garlic extract was obtained. Then the homogenized garlic extract was run through Amicon DIAF10 ultra-filtration system, using XM and PM membranes. The ultra-filtrated fractions were collected as Residue [R] 300, 100, 50, 30, 10 and filtrate [F] 10. The fractions were evaluated by SDS-PAGE, using 14 percent Acrylamide gel. Serial dilutions of fraction from 1/2 up to 1/32 were tested against each Dermatophyte in Sabourauds Dextrose agar and Minimum Inhibition Concentration [MIC] was obtained. The Dermatophytes tested included: Trichophyton mentagrophytes var. mentagrophytes, Triochophyton Mentagrophytes var. interdigitale, Tricophyton rubrum, Tricophyton tonsurans, Microsporum canis, Microsporum gypseum and Epidermophyton floccosum. An ointment was prepared with Fraction F10 as active ingrediant and was used for treatment of dermatophitosis of ginea pigs. The result showed that F10 inhibited growth of Microsporum canis, Epidermophyton floccosum, Tricophyton rubrum, Tricophyton tonsurans. MIC 1/4 was active against Microsporum gypseum and 1/2 against Triochophyton Mentagrophytes var, interdigitale. Trichophyton mentagrophytes var. Mentagrophytes was resistant to all dilutions. lso the ointment used for treatment of dermatophitosis of guinea pig showed a statistically significant inverse relation between the severity and diameter of lesions and the duration of treatment [p<0.01]. This research showed that F10 fraction, which contains nonprotein components, is the most effective treatment for dermatophitosis