In vitro effectiveness of some antifungal, plant extracts, and essential oils on vaginal candidiasis-recovered Candida species from Surman, Libya

Purpose:
Vulvovaginal candidiasis is a dangerous condition that affects around 75% of all women at some point in their life. This study aimed to diagnosis of yeasts that cause vulvovaginal candidiasis in pregnant women, and studying the effect of some antifungal drugs, plant extracts, and essential oils on growth of Candida isolates causing the disease.

Materials and Methods: 
Mycological analysis of 210 samples collected from patients, using SDA and chromogenic media for yeast identification, and the well diffusion method to evaluated how five plant extracts, and 5 essential oils, as well as 3 antifungal drugs affected the development of 28 Candida isolates.

Results:
According to their color on the chromogenic media 100 Candida isolates classified into 5 species, namely C. albicans, C. glabtrata, C. krusei, C. parapsilosis, and C. tropicalis. The results showed that thyme extract, basil oil, and thyme oil were the most effective natural antifungal against the tested isolates. Clotrimazole and Miconazole were the two medications that had the best effect against the tested Candida isolates.

Conclusion:
Antifungal incorrect use contributes to the development of anti-fungal resistance and therefore does not give effective results. In vitro susceptibility testing to various antifungal agents (drugs, extracts and essential oils) is not only the key to successful treatment of a fungal disease, but also the gateway to the discovery of new useful antifungals. (Open J Biomed Res 2023;2:16-25.)