title: Antifungal activity of Brazilian medicinal plants involved in popular treatment of mycoses.
abstract: A survey of medicinal plants used to treat common mycoses was done in the Curituba district, Sergipe State, Brazil. One hundred inhabitants were interviewed by health agents and traditional healers. Four different plants were the most cited (more than 50% of the citations): Ziziphus joazeiro, Caesalpinia pyramidalis, Bumelia sartorum and Hymenea courbaril. The aqueous extracts obtained following traditional methods and using different parts of these plants, were submitted to drop agar diffusion tests for primary antimicrobial screening. Only the water infusion extract of Ziziphus joazeiro and Caesalpinea pyramidalis presented a significant antifungal activity against Trichophyton rubrum, Candida guilliermondii, Candida albicans, Cryptococcus neoformans and Fonsecaea pedrosoi, when compared to the antifungal agent amphotericin B. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the bioactive extracts was evaluated by the microdilution method. Best activity with a MIC of 6.5 microg/ml for both extracts was observed against Trichophyton rubrum and Candida guilliermondii. Ziziphus joazeiro and Caesalpinea pyramidalis extracts presented also low acute toxicity in murine models. The present study validates the folk use of these plant extracts and indicates that they can be effective potential candidates for the development of new strategies to treat fungal infections.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Fisiologia-CCBS, Laboratório de Farmacologia-Universidade Federal de Sergipe, São Cristóvão-SE, Brazil.
authors.forename: M C S
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Cruz
authors.forename: P O
authors.initials: PO
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Barbosa
authors.forename: D L F M
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: de Mélo
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Alviano
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Antoniolli
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Alviano
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Trindade
mesh_terms: D000666:Amphotericin B / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001938:Brazil; D003625:Data Collection; D019448:Ethnobotany; D006282:Health Personnel; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008519:Medicine, Traditional; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D009181:Mycoses / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000145:classification*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts; D014867:Water; D000666:Amphotericin B