Laboratory of Mycology, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Federal University of Paraíba, João Pessoa 58051-970, Brazil.
Molecules. 2012 Dec 5;17(12):14418-33. doi: 10.3390/molecules171214418.
Mucormycoses are emerging infections that have high rates of morbidity and mortality. They show high resistance to antifungal agents, and there is a limited therapeutic arsenal currently available, therefore, there is a great need to give priority to testing therapeutic agents for the treatment of mucormycosis. Along this line, the use of essential oils and phytoconstituents has been emphasized as a new therapeutic approach. The objective of this work was to investigate the antifungal activity of the essential oil (EO) of Thymus vulgaris, and its constituents thymol and p-cymene against Rhizopus oryzae, through microbiological screening, determination of minimal inhibitory concentration (MICs) and minimal fungicidal concentration (MFCs), effects on mycelial growth and germination of sporangiospores and interaction with ergosterol. The MIC of EO and thymol varied 128-512 µg/mL, but the MFC of EO and thymol varied 512-1024 µg/mL and 128-1024 µg/mL, respectively. The results also showed that EO and thymol significantly inhibited mycelial development and germination of sporangiospores. Investigation of the mechanism of antifungal action showed that EO and thymol interact with ergosterol. These data indicate that EO of T. vulgaris and thymol possess strong antifungal activity, which can be related to their interaction with ergosterol, supporting the possible use of these products in the treatment of mucormycosis.
毛霉病是一种新兴感染，其发病率和死亡率都很高。它们对抗真菌药物具有高度耐药性，目前可用的治疗武器库有限，因此非常需要优先测试治疗毛霉病的治疗药物。在此背景下，精油和植物成分的使用已被强调为一种新的治疗方法。本工作的目的是通过微生物筛选、最小抑菌浓度（MIC）和最小杀菌浓度（MFC）的测定、对菌丝生长和孢子萌发的影响以及与麦角固醇的相互作用，研究普通百里香精油及其成分百里香酚和对伞花烃对米根霉的抗真菌活性。精油和百里香酚的 MIC 分别为 128-512μg/ml 和 128-512μg/ml，但精油和百里香酚的 MFC 分别为 512-1024μg/ml 和 128-1024μg/ml。结果还表明，精油和百里香酚能显著抑制菌丝生长和孢子萌发。抗真菌作用机制的研究表明，精油和百里香酚与麦角固醇相互作用。这些数据表明，普通百里香精油和百里香酚具有很强的抗真菌活性，这可能与其与麦角固醇的相互作用有关，支持这些产品在治疗毛霉病中的可能应用。
