title: Antifungal activity of the Algerian Lawsonia inermis (henna).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Lawsonia inermis Linn. (Lythraceae) or henna has been used since the earliest times as a medicine, preservative, and cosmetic. It has long been recommended in traditional medicine as an astringent, purgative, and abortifacient.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Lawsone and six extracts of L. inermis plant, used by Algerian traditional healers to treat infectious diseases, were screened for their antifungal activity against filamentous fungi.
  
  
  METHODS
  Water and five organic extracts - DMSO, ethanol, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and di-ethyl ether - of L. inermis leaves, collected in the area of Adrar (Algeria), were prepared by soaking 25 g of powdered plant in 100 mL of solvent. The extracts were screened for antifungal activity using the poisoned food technique against five filamentous fungi.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results demonstrated that the best yield (8.03%) was obtained with the ethanol extract. The commercial lawsone showed potentially interesting MICs against the strains Fusarium oxysporum (12 µg/mL) and Aspergillus flavus (50 µg/mL). The ethanol extract showed the only interesting MIC (230 µg/mL of crude extract) against the strain F. oxysporum compared with other extracts.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that the Algerian L. inermis plant has antifungal activity that can be related to the presence of lawsone in the leaves plant. The results can be exploited largely in research of new antifungal drugs.
authors.affiliation: Antibiotics Antifungal Laboratory: Physical-Chemistry, Synthesis and Biological Activity, Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Tlemcen University, Tlemcen, Algeria. nagrah113@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Nadjib
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rahmoun
authors.forename: Zahia
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Boucherit-Otmani
authors.forename: Kebir
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Boucherit
authors.forename: Mohammed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Benabdallah
authors.forename: Noureddine
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Choukchou-Braham
mesh_terms: D000462:Algeria; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005658:Fungi / Q000187:drug effects*; D031564:Lawsonia Plant / Q000737:chemistry*; D008519:Medicine, Traditional; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D009285:Naphthoquinones / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018515:Plant Leaves; D012997:Solvents / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D009285:Naphthoquinones; D010936:Plant Extracts; D012997:Solvents; C005090:lawsone