Antioxidant and antifungal activities of marrubiin,extracts and essential oil from Marrubium vulgare L. against pathogenic dermatophyte strains

ObjectiveMedicinal plants extracts and plant-derived compounds are one of the natural sources for discovering new antifungal agents, the objectives of this work were to investigate for the first time the antidermatophytic, antipathogenic activities of methanol, acetone extracts, and essential oil of Marrubium vulgare L. grown in Tunisia and its active compound marrubiin on pathogenic for animals and humans, such as some dermatophytes and pathogenic for plants, and to evaluate antioxidant activities of different extracts with consideration to their chemical compositions.Material and methodsAcetone and methanol extracts were evaluated by HPLC, the essential oil was also analyzed by GC/MS. PCL assay was used to determine the antioxidant activity.ResultsResults showed that methanol and acetone extracts exhibited a significant antioxidant activity (261.41 and 272.90 μmol TE/g respectively), while the lowest one was observed in the case of marrubiin and essential oil. The antifungal activity of different extracts, marrubiin and essential oil at two concentrations (20 and 100 μg/mL) were screened against the dermatophytes fungi Microsporum gypseum, Microsporum canis, Arthroderma cajetani, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Trichophyton tonsurans, Epidermophyton floccosum and against two fungi strains (Botrytis cinerea, Pythium ultimum). Among tested extracts, marrubiin at 100 μg/mL showed about 50% inhibition for T. mentagrophytes and E. floccosum. The anti-phytopathogenic activity was also carried out, only marrubiin had in activity against B. cinerea at the highest dose (32.40%), while methanol extract of M.vulgare and marrubiin are able to increase the mycelial growth of P. ultimum at the highest concentration (45.15 and 40.30% respectively).ConclusionIn our study, we conclude that M.vulgare and marrubiin can be used as natural antioxidants and antifungal agent for treatment of skin dermatophyte infections.     

Chemical composition,antioxidant activity and antifungal effects of five Iranian essential oils against Candida strains isolated from urine samples

Systemic candidiasis has become an emerging fungal infection in recent years. Anti-Candida resistance to conventional antifungal agents has subsequently increased. This study reported the chemical composition, antioxidant and anti-Candida activity of Origanum majorana, Artemisia dracunculus, Cymbopogon citrate, Cinnamomum verum and Caryophyllus aromaticus essential oils. Different Candida species, from urine tracts of hospitalized patients, were included to be challenged with understudied essential oils. Chemical compositions were determined using gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GC/MS) analysis and antioxidant activity was measured using DDPH assay. MIC of these essential oils was evaluated using broth micro-dilution test. Caryophyllus aromaticus had the highest antioxidant activity while the lowest antioxidant activity was for Artemisia dracunculus. MICs of Cinnamomum verum, Caryophillium aromaticus, Artemisia dracunculus, Origanum vulgare and Cymbopogon citratus essential oils ranged from 125 to 175 μg/mL (mean value: 147.7 ± 25.5 μg/mL), 700 to 1000 μg/mL (mean value: 740.9 ± 105.4 μg/mL), 1000 to 2000 μg/mL (mean value: 1454.5 ± 509.6 μg/mL), 173 to 350 μg/mL (mean value: 208 ± 55.8 μg/mL) and 125 to 175 μg/mL (mean value: 156.8 ± 24.6 μg/mL) for different Candida species, respectively. In general, natural compounds are suitable to be used as anti-Candida and antioxidant agents. However in this stage, these compounds could be applied as supplementary agents along with conventional antifungal drugs.