ABSTRACT
Background: The recent emergence of fungal resistance strains has caused concern in medical settings. Medicinal plants continue to be viable sources of bioactive chemicals with therapeutic potential. These compounds can be extracted in different techniques using various solvents that give rise to a wide variety of extracted bioactive compounds that act as anti-fungal. The research aimed to evaluate the effect of fenugreek seed extracts on resistant isolates of Candida spp. isolated from sever COVID-19 patients.Methodology: The study was conducted from August 2021 to November 2022 at Al-Imam Al -Hussein Medical City and Al-Hayat Respiratory Diseases Units. Under a specialist's physician's supervision, severe COVID-19 cases were collected. The collected 455 sputum samples were examined directly and cultured on Sabouraud ' s Dextrose agar (SDA) media;growth colonies were distinguished and used Grams stain with the API system before the antifungal susceptibility test was performed in accordance with clinical and laboratory standards institute (CLSI 2020) by disc diffusion method to differentiate the resistance microorganism. The extraction process was conducted using the soxhlet technique (100 grams of seed powder and 800 milliliters of solvents (chloroform, methanol, and water) for eight hours. Electrical rotatory evaporators were used to evaporate the extract to get the concentrated crude extracts. FTIR and GC -MS instruments used to detection of bioactive compounds in crude fenugreek seed extracts(aqueous, methanol, and chloroform). Then, different concentrations of each extract (25, 50, 100, and 150 mg/ml) and their effect against the tested resistance study isolated were examined by well diffusion method and Minimum inhibitory concentration was measured.Results: A 455 were enrolled in this study. Patients' ages ranged from 20 to 91 years (mean 52.23, SD 15.009). This study indicated that more than half of the samples were males [(262) 57.6%] and [(193) 42.4%] were females. The FTIR and GC-MS showed the methanolic extract potent the most bioactive compounds, followed by the chloroform and water extracts. Evaluation of antimicrobial effects at 50 mg/ml, the methanolic extract showed the greatest effect, with a mean inhibition zone of 9.33 mm and a significant value of 0.01;at 100 mg/ml, the chloroform extract showed the next greatest effect, with a mean inhibition zone of 10.33 mm and a significant value of 0.005. At 150 mg/ml, the aqueous extracts showed the least effect, with a mean inhibition zone of 8.33 mm and a non-significant value of 0.024.Conclusions: Candida spp. were most frequent isolated yeast from sputum of patients with severe COVID-19. Methanol extract was the most effective anti-candida, followed by chloroform extract, and the aqueous extract was the least effective. The most effective anti-candida drug is ketoconazole.
ABSTRACT
Background: The recent emergence of fungal resistance strains has caused concern in medical settings. Medicinal plants continue to be viable sources of bioactive chemicals with therapeutic potential. These compounds can be extracted in different techniques using various solvents that give rise to a wide variety of extracted bioactive compounds that act as anti-fungal. The research aimed to evaluate the effect of fenugreek seed extracts on resistant isolates of Candida spp. isolated from sever COVID-19 patients. Methodology: The study was conducted from August 2021 to November 2022 at Al-Imam Al-Hussein Medical City and Al-Hayat Respiratory Diseases Units. Under a specialist's physician's supervision, severe COVID-19 cases were collected. The collected 455 sputum samples were examined directly and cultured on Sabouraud's Dextrose agar (SDA) media;growth colonies were distinguished and used Grams stain with the API system before the antifungal susceptibility test was performed in accordance with clinical and laboratory standards institute (CLSI 2020) by disc diffusion method to differentiate the resistance microorganism. The extraction process was conducted using the soxhlet technique (100 grams of seed powder and 800 milliliters of solvents (chloroform, methanol, and water) for eight hours. Electrical rotatory evaporators were used to evaporate the extract to get the concentrated crude extracts. FTIR and GC-MS instruments used to detection of bioactive compounds in crude fenugreek seed extracts(aqueous, methanol, and chloroform). Then, different concentrations of each extract (25, 50, 100, and 150 mg/ml) and their effect against the tested resistance study isolated were examined by well diffusion method and Minimum inhibitory concentration was measured. Result(s): A 455 were enrolled in this study. Patients' ages ranged from 20 to 91 years (mean 52.23, SD 15.009). This study indicated that more than half of the samples were males [(262) 57.6%] and [(193) 42.4%] were females. The FTIR and GC-MS showed the methanolic extract potent the most bioactive compounds, followed by the chloroform and water extracts. Evaluation of antimicrobial effects at 50 mg/ml, the methanolic extract showed the greatest effect, with a mean inhibition zone of 9.33 mm and a significant value of 0.01;at 100 mg/ml, the chloroform extract showed the next greatest effect, with a mean inhibition zone of 10.33 mm and a significant value of 0.005. At 150 mg/ml, the aqueous extracts showed the least effect, with a mean inhibition zone of 8.33 mm and a non-significant value of 0.024. Conclusion(s): Candida spp. were most frequent isolated yeast from sputum of patients with severe COVID-19. Methanol extract was the most effective anti-candida, followed by chloroform extract, and the aqueous extract was the least effective. The most effective anti-candida drug is ketoconazole.Copyright © 2022.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Since December 2019, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is caused by SARSCoV- 2, has spread locally in Wuhan, China, and later on, a worldwide outbreak occurred. Invasive fungal infections can cause complications in critically ill immunocompromised patients of COVID-19, especially those admitted to intensive care units and who required mechanical ventilation. Candida albicans have been the most common pathogenic species, followed by other Candida spp. Mannan is a major component of the Candida cell wall and can be detected by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in blood and other fluids. Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis is considered a lifethreatening infection, especially among immunocompromised patients. COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis has emerged as an important complication among patients in the intensive care units. Galactomannan (GM) is a major cell-wall component of Aspergillus spp. and can be found in body fluids. Blood GM can be detected by the enzyme immunoassay. The aim of the current study is to assess the frequency of aspergillosis and candidiasis among COVID-19 patients in some hospitals in Baghdad by using GM and mannan biomarkers. Methods: During the period from February 2020 to May 2021, 175 COVID-19 blood samples of patients were collected and a sandwich ELISA test was performed to detect GM Ag of Aspergillus spp. and mannan Ag of Candida spp. Results: Regarding C-reactive protein (CRP), significant differences were seen among Aspergillus/- COVID-19 patients ( p 0.029). Regarding sex and age group, the results indicated that of a total of 175 adult patients with positive COVID-19, more than half of the patients were males. Regarding the distribution of mannan Ag and GM Ag in COVID-19 patients, it was seen that out of the 175 patients, 167 (95.43%) Candida mannan Ag were negative and only 8 (4.57%) were positive, and 170 (79.14%) Aspergillus GM Ag were negative and only 5 (2.86%) were positive. It was also seen that 2 patients (1.14%) who had both Candida mannan and Aspergillus GM were positive and 173 (98.6%) were negative. No statistically significant difference was seen in candidiasis and aspergillosis among patients with COVID-19 regarding age group, sex, underlying chronic diseases (hypertension and diabetes mellitus), and biochemical tests. Conclusion: COVID-19 infections increased with age and were seen more in males than in females. The percentage of infection with C. albicans and Aspergillus spp. among COVID-19 patients was not significant, and this may come from the random collection of samples from patients with different stages of illness. A significant correlation was found between Aspergillus GM Ag in COVID-19 patients and the CRP test.