Montenegro Iván, Villarroel Constanza, Muñoz Evelyn, Mena-Ulecia Karel, Silva Valentina, Madrid Alejandro
Center of Interdisciplinary Biomedical and Engineering Research for Health (MEDING), Escuela de Obstetricia y Puericultura, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Valparaíso, Viña del Mar, Chile.
Laboratorio de Productos Naturales y Síntesis Orgánica (LPNSO), Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Exactas, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Valparaíso, Chile.
Front Pharmacol. 2025 Jul 10;16:1634250. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1634250. eCollection 2025.
The antifungal activity of the essential oil of (Benth.) Govaerts was investigated against several strains of spp. including clinical isolates and reference strains. Antifungal efficacy was evaluated by determining minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC). The chemical composition of the essential oil, characterized by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS), revealed pulegone (18.5%), thymol (11.0%), and isomenthone (10.0%) as the primary constituents. essential oil (EO) demonstrated broad-spectrum anticandidal activity against all tested spp., with MIC values ranging from 16 to 64 μg/mL and MFC values from 16 to 128 μg/mL. The EO exhibited potent fungicidal activity (MFC/MIC ratio ≤2) against several strains, notably (MIC and MFC of 16 μg/mL), and also showed efficacy against and . Among the major components, thymol generally displayed the lowest MIC values (32-64 μg/mL). Molecular docking studies further suggested thymol as a key contributor to the oil's antifungal effect, showing strong binding affinities to virulence proteins Als9-2 and the enzyme CYP51. Significantly, the essential oil outperformed amphotericin B against all tested clinical isolates. Overall, EO exhibits significant fungistatic and fungicidal activity against pathogenic species without affecting normal cell viability. These findings, supported by chemical characterization and analysis of its major components like thymol, highlight its potential as a source of novel natural antifungal agents.
研究了（Benth.）Govaerts精油对几种假丝酵母属菌株的抗真菌活性，包括临床分离株和参考菌株。通过测定最低抑菌浓度（MIC）和最低杀菌浓度（MFC）来评估抗真菌效果。采用气相色谱 - 质谱联用（GC/MS）对精油的化学成分进行表征，结果显示主要成分包括胡薄荷酮（18.5%）、百里香酚（11.0%）和异薄荷酮（10.0%）。该精油对所有测试的假丝酵母属菌株均表现出广谱抗念珠菌活性，MIC值范围为16至64μg/mL，MFC值范围为16至128μg/mL。该精油对几种菌株表现出强效杀菌活性（MFC/MIC比值≤2），特别是白色念珠菌（MIC和MFC均为16μg/mL），并且对热带念珠菌和近平滑念珠菌也有效果。在主要成分中，百里香酚通常显示出最低的MIC值（32 - 64μg/mL）。分子对接研究进一步表明百里香酚是该精油抗真菌作用的关键贡献者，对白色念珠菌毒力蛋白Als9 - 2和酶CYP51表现出强烈的结合亲和力。值得注意的是，该精油在所有测试的临床分离株上的表现均优于两性霉素B。总体而言，该精油对致病性假丝酵母属物种表现出显著的抑菌和杀菌活性，且不影响正常细胞活力。这些发现得到了化学表征以及对其主要成分如百里香酚的分析的支持，突出了其作为新型天然抗真菌剂来源的潜力。
