Abstract
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the in vitro anticandidal activity of a methanolic extract of Syngonanthus nitens scapes against different Candida species and clinical isolates from patients with vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC), and its effect in vivo in the treatment of vaginal infection. Chemical characterization of the extract was performed by HPLC-UV analyses and showed the presence of flavones derivatives. The extract was effective against several Candida strains from our collection and species recovered from VVC patients, and was able to inhibit the yeast-hyphal transition. No cytotoxic activity against human female reproductive tract epithelial cells and no hemolytic activity against human red blood cells were observed. In the in vivo model of VVC, we evaluated the efficacy of the intravaginal treatment with a cream containing the extract at doses of 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0%. The treatment eradicated the vaginal fungal burden in infected rats after 8 days of treatment. S. nitens extract could be considered as an effective and non-toxic natural antifungal agent in the treatment of vulvovaginal candidiasis.
Acknowledgments
We thank the CONICET (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnologicas).
Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and the writing of the paper.
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento Pessoal de Nível Superior) and FAPESP (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo).
This work was supported by FAPESP and by grants from Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica- Foncyt; Secretaría de Ciencia y Tecnología, Secyt-UNC; CONICET [PIP 112 200801 02778] and Ministerio de Ciencia y Técnica de la provincia de Córdoba (MinCyT).
This paper was first published online on Early Online on 10 June 2013.