Avaliação da atividade antifúngica de curcuma longa sobre candida parapsilosis

Abstract

Among fungal infections that affect human beings, candidiasis has significant relevance. Its most common etiological agent is Candida albicans, but over the past three decades candidiasis episodes caused by other species, such as Candida parapsilosis, have emerged. The Brazilian Cerrado has a huge morphological diversity of plants. Curcuma longa, a plant widely found in this biome, has been studied both for its antibacterial and antifungal activity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antifungal activity of C. longa on C. parapsilosis by analyzing the inhibitory capacity of extracts from different parts of the plant on the fungus. The antifungal activity of ethanolic extracts from rhizomes and leaves of C. longa was evaluated by the macrodilution method, determining the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), alongside sensitivity testing performed in plates and by the diffusion disk method. We also evaluated the synergy between the extracts in combination with traditional antifungal drugs. C. longa has antifungal activity on the growth of C. parapsilosis with a MIC value obtained from ethanolic extracts of 500 ppm for rhizomes and leaves. It was possible to observe synergistic activity between the leaf extracts and amphotericin B and antagonistic activity between rhizome extracts and amphotericin B. It may be concluded that the leaf and rhizome extracts of C. longa have antifungal activity against C. parapsilosis in a dose-dependent manner, showing the antifungal potential of the plant