Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Dschang, P,O, Box 67, Dschang, Cameroon.
BMC Complement Altern Med. 2014 Feb 17;14:58. doi: 10.1186/1472-6882-14-58.
Spices and herbs have been used in food since ancient times to give taste and flavor and also as food preservatives and disease remedies. In Cameroon, the use of spices and other aromatic plants as food flavoring is an integral part of dietary behavior, but relatively little is known about their antifungal potential.The present work was designed to assess the antifungal properties of extracts from spices used in Cameroonian dietary.
The in vitro antifungal activities of twenty three extracts from twenty one spices were assessed by the broth micro-dilution method against eight fungi. Also, the in vivo activity of Olax subscorpioidea extract (the most active extract) was evaluated in rat model of disseminated candidiasis due to Candida albicans by estimating the fungal burden in blood and kidney.
Seven extracts (30%) exhibited moderate to significant antifungal activities, inhibiting the growth of the microorganisms at concentrations ranging from 0.048 to 0.39 mg/mL. Olax subscorpioidea extract exhibited the highest antifungal activity particularly against Candida albicans and Candida tropicalis (MIC of 0.097 mg/mL and 0.048 mg/mL respectively). Sixteen extracts (70%) were weakly active (MICs > 6.25 mg/mL). Oral administration of O. subscorpioidea extract at the dose 2 g/kg of body weight (bw) to artificially infected rats revealed a drop in the number of colony forming units per milliliter (cfu/mL) of Candida albicans cells in the blood below the detection limit (100 cfu/mL) while a modest decrease was observed in the kidney.
The present work shows that some of the spices studied possess interesting antifungal properties and could be used to treat candidiasis. Among the plant species tested, Olax subscorpioidea displayed the most promising result.
自古以来，香料和草药就被用于食品中，以赋予食物味道和风味，同时也作为食品防腐剂和疾病治疗剂。在喀麦隆，香料和其他芳香植物作为食物调味剂是饮食行为的一个组成部分，但它们的抗真菌潜力相对知之甚少。本研究旨在评估喀麦隆饮食中使用的香料提取物的抗真菌特性。
采用肉汤微量稀释法评估 23 种来自 21 种香料的提取物对 8 种真菌的体外抗真菌活性。此外，还通过评估白色念珠菌引起的播散性念珠菌病大鼠模型中 Olax subscorpioidea 提取物（最有效提取物）的体内活性来评估其抗真菌活性，方法是估计血液和肾脏中的真菌负荷。
7 种提取物（30%）表现出中度至显著的抗真菌活性，在 0.048 至 0.39mg/mL 的浓度范围内抑制微生物的生长。Olax subscorpioidea 提取物对白色念珠菌和热带念珠菌表现出最高的抗真菌活性（MIC 分别为 0.097mg/mL 和 0.048mg/mL）。16 种提取物（70%）活性较弱（MICs＞6.25mg/mL）。以 2g/kg 体重（bw）的剂量口服给予 O.subscorpioidea 提取物，可使人工感染大鼠血液中的白色念珠菌细胞菌落形成单位数（cfu/mL）降至检测限以下（100cfu/mL），而肾脏中的数量则略有下降。
本研究表明，研究中一些香料具有有趣的抗真菌特性，可用于治疗念珠菌病。在所测试的植物物种中，Olax subscorpioidea 显示出最有前途的结果。
