title: In vitro synergy of eugenol and methyleugenol with fluconazole against clinical Candida isolates.
abstract: The species Candida is a group of opportunistic pathogenic commensals in immune-compromised patients. Treatment of Candida infections is becoming increasingly difficult due to antifungal drug resistance, especially with fluconazole (FLC), which is a commonly used azole. In the present study the in vitro antifungal activity of eugenol (EUG) and methyleugenol (MEUG) alone and in combination against 64 FLC-sensitive and 34 FLC-resistant clinical Candida isolates is highlighted. All the strains were susceptible to both the naturally occurring phenyl propanoids. The nature of the interaction was studied from fractional inhibitory concentration indices (FICIs) for both EUG plus FLC, and MEUG plus FLC combinations calculated from chequerboard microdilution assays. FICI values depicted a high synergism of FLC with both compounds, which was greatest with MEUG. FLC-resistant Candida isolates showed high sensitivity to both compounds. No antagonistic activity was seen in the strains tested in the present study. From these results we suggest that EUG and MEUG have great potential as antifungals, and that FLC can be supplemented with EUG and MEUG to treat FLC-resistant Candida infections.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi 110025, India.
authors.forename: Aijaz
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi 110025, India.
authors.forename: Amber
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi 110025, India.
authors.forename: Luqman Ahmad
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi 110025, India.
authors.forename: Nikhat
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Manzoor
mesh_terms: D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002175:Candida / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002177:Candidiasis / Q000382:microbiology; D004357:Drug Synergism; D005054:Eugenol / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015725:Fluconazole / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D015394:Molecular Structure
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; C005223:methyleugenol; D005054:Eugenol; D015725:Fluconazole