Anti-ovarian cancer potential of phytocompound and extract from South African medicinal plants and their role in the development of chemotherapeutic agents

Ovarian cancer (OC) accounts for the highest tumor-related mortality among the gynecologic malignancies. Most of the OC patients diagnosed with advanced-stage (III and IV) this situation creates panic and provokes an emergency to discover a new therapeutic strategy. Plants that possess medicinal properties are gaining attention as they are enriched with various chemical compounds that are potential to treat various diseases. It is a prolonged process to provide innovative and significant leads against a range of pharmacological targets for a human disease management system. Though challenges and difficulties are faced in the development of a new drug, the emergence of combinatorial chemistry is providing a new ray of hope and also, the executed effort in discovering the drug, and a chemical compound has been remarkably successful. This review discussed the role of medicinal plants that are native of South Africa in treating the Ovarian Cancer and in drug discovery.     

In vitro and in vivo antifungal activity of essential oils of Cymbopogon martini and Chenopodium ambrosioides and their synergism against dermatophytes

The present study was carried out to evaluate the antifungal efficacy of essential oils (EO) of Cymbopogon martini, Chenopodium ambrosioides and of their combination against dermatophytes and some filamentous fungi in vitro as well as in vivo using a guinea pig model. The minimum inhibitory concentrations of EOs and of their combination were found between 150 and 500 ppm, while those of known antifungal drugs ranged from 1000 to 5500 ppm. EO ointments were prepared and applied against induced ringworm in guinea pig model and disease removal was observed in 7–21 days, and the hair samples showed negative results for fungal culture in a time‐dependent manner after the application of EO ointments. Chemical constituents of EOs were determined by GC–MS. Both the EOs and their combination displayed strong antifungal effects. The results provide a scientific validation for the use of these EOs in the treatment of dermatophyte infections and may be recommended as an alternative to synthetic drug for topical application.     

Screening of Thai medicinal plants for anticandidal activity

Medicinal plants are often used in the treatment of various ailments. In this study, 23 of Thai medicinal plants were screened for their anticandidal activity against six pathogenic Candida species: C. albicans , C. glabrata , C. guilliermondii , C. krusei , C. parapsilosis and C. tropicalis. The methanol extract of Hibiscus sabdariffa L. fruit, Trigonostemon reidioides (Kurz) Craib root, Usnea siamensis Vain whole plant, Boesenbergia rotunda (L.) Mansf. rhizome, and Albizia myriophylla Benth. stem showed anticandidal activity against one or more species of Candida . Among them, A. myriophylla Benth. showed broad anticandidal activity. The susceptibility tests of A. myriophylla Benth. extract, in terms of minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and minimal fungicidal concentration (MFC), were performed by the broth microdilution techniques as described by the Clinical Laboratory Standard Institute. MICs of A. myriophylla Benth. extract to all Candida species was ranged 100–500 μg ml⁻¹. The killing activity of A. myriophylla Benth. extract was fast acting against all Candida tested; the reduction in the number of CFU ml⁻¹ was >3 log₁₀ units (99.9%) in 2 h. This study indicates that A. myriophylla Benth. extract has considerable anticandidal activity, deserving further investigation for clinical applications for the treatment of candidiasis.     

Antimicrobial activity of Hymenaea martiana towards dermatophytes and Cryptococcus neoformans

The biological activity of crude extract and fractions of Hymenaea martiana was evaluated against a panel of human pathogenic fungi. The crude extracts and hydroalcoholic fractions (E) showed a high activity against Cryptococcus neoformans species complex isolates with MICs between 2 and 64 μg ml^?1. The methanolic (C) and butanolic (D) fractions were the most active against Trichopyton rubrum, Trichopyton mentagrophytes and Microsporum canis with MICs between 8 and 256 μg ml^?1. None of the extracts was active against the yeast Malassezia furfur, Malassezia obtusa and Malassezia sympodialis.     

In vitro antifungal activity of coumarin extracted from Loeselia mexicana Brand

The bis-coumarin daphnoretin and its monomeric precursors scopoletin and umbelliferone were isolated for the first time from the aerial part of Loeselia mexicana Brand (a vegetal species used in Mexican traditional medicine) using chromatographic techniques. The structures of these compounds were determined by (1) H and (13) C NMR analyses. These coumarins were evaluated for in vitro antifungal activity. The three compounds tested showed significant antifungal activity.     

Substrates and modulators of the multidrug transporter Cdr1p of Candida albicans in antifungal extracts of medicinal plants

The effective treatment of infections caused by the most frequent human fungal pathogens Candida albicans and Candida glabrata is hindered by a limited number of available antifungals and development of resistance. In this study, we identified new extracts of medicinal plants inhibiting the growth of C. glabrata, a species generally showing low sensitivity to azoles. The methanolic extract of Anacardium occidentalis with an MIC of 80 μg ml^?1 proved to be the most active. In contrast to higher azole sensitivity, C. albicans showed increased resistance to several extracts. Investigation of the possible contribution of the multidrug transporter of the ATP‐binding cassette superfamily Cdr1p of C. albicans to extract tolerance revealed a differential response upon overproduction of this protein in Saccharaomyces cerevisiae. Whereas the growth inhibitory activity of many extracts was not affected by CDR1 overexpression, increased sensitivity to some of them was observed. In contrast, extracts showing no detectable anticandidal activity including the ethyl acetate extract of Trichilia emetica were detoxified by Cdr1p. The presence of a non‐toxic Cdr1p‐mediated ketoconazole resistance modulator accompanying growth‐inhibitory Cdr1p substrates in this extract was revealed by further fractionation experiments.     

Anti-proliferative activity of essential oil extracted from Thai medicinal plants on KB and P388 cell lines

Anti-proliferative activity of essential oil from 17 Thai medicinal plants on human mouth epidermal carcinoma (KB) and murine leukemia (P388) cell lines using MTT assay were investigated. An amount of 1 x 10(4)cells/well of KB cell line and 1 x 10(5) cells/well of P388 cell line were treated with the oil samples at different concentrations ranging from 0.019 to 4.962 mg/ml. In KB cell line, Guava (Psidium guajava L.) leaf oil showed the highest anti-proliferative activity with the IC(50) value of 0.0379 mg/ml (4.37 times more potent than vincristine) whereas Sweet Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) oil gave the highest anti-proliferative activity with the IC(50) value of 0.0362 mg/ml (12.7 times less potent than 5-FU) in P388 cell line. The results demonstrated the potential of essential oil from Thai medicinal plants for cancer treatment.     

In vitro antifungal activity of Polyporaceae against yeasts and dermatophytes

Summary. The antifungal activity of 38 Polyporaceae sensu lato against yeasts and dermatophytes was tested in vitro by the agar dilution method. Strains were typed organisms and clinical isolates. In this first report Pycnoporellus fulgens (Fr. Donk was found to be the most active species against pathological fungi and showed broad-spectrum antifungal activity against yeasts ( Candida albicans, Candida glabrata ) and dermatophytes ( Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Trichophyton rubrum. Microsporum canis. Microsporum gypseum. Epidermophyton floccosum ). Other Polyporaceae species also showed antifungal activity, but only against dermatophytes.
Zusammenfassung. Alkoholische Rohextrakte von 38 Polyporaceae-Arten wurden in vitro mittels Agardilutiontest auf ihre antimyzetische Wirkung gegen Hefen und Dermatophyten geprüft. Die Teststämme waren einige Sammlungsstämme, in der Mehrzahl aber klinische Isolate. In dieser Studie erwies sich der Extrakt von Pycnoporellus fulgens (Fr.) Donk als antimyzetisch aktivste Spezies gegen pathogene Hefen ( Candida albicans, C. glabrata ) sowie gegen Dermatophyten ( Trichophyton mentagrophytes, T. rubrum, Microsporum canis, M. gypseum, Epidermophyion floccosum ). Andere Polyporaceae zeigten ebenfalls antimyzetische Aktivitat, jedoch nur gegen Dermatophyten.     

In vitro antifungal activities of new imidazole salts towards dermatophytes

The in vitro activities of two new miconazole and econazole salts with the sulphosalicylic acid against 71 clinical isolates of dermatophytes were evaluated in comparison with those of miconazole, miconazole nitrate, econazole and econazole nitrate. Miconazole sulphosalicylate and econazole sulphosalicylate were equally effective in inhibiting the fungal growth compared with miconazole, econazole, and their nitrates.     

Comparison of in vitro activities of antifungal drugs and ethanolic extract of propolis against Trichophyton rubrum and T. mentagrophytes by using a microdilution assay

The in vitro activities of propolis against 29 strains of dermatophytes were compared with those of terbinafine, itraconazole, ketoconazole, and fluconazole. Minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were determined according to a National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards broth microdilution method. Among the systemic antifungals tested, terbinafine was the most potent. Propolis showed important antifungal activity and it merits further investigation as a potentially useful agent for the treatment of dermatophytosis.     

An investigation on the anticandidal activity of some traditional medicinal plants in Turkey

Methanol and chloroform extracts obtained from eight plant species belonging to six families, which were selected depending on their use in Turkish folk medicine, including Mentha longifolia L . (Labiatae), Mentha piperita L . Hudson (Labiatae), Prongos ferulaceae (Umbelliferae), Galium verum L . (Rubiaceae), Salvia limbata C. A Meyer (Labiatae), Artemisia austriaca Jacq. (Artemiceae), Plantago lanceolata L. (Plantaginaceae) and Urtica dioica L. (Urticaceae) were evaluated for their in vitro anticandidal activity. The anticandidal activity of extracts against 99 human pathogenic clinical isolates belonging to 35 Candida albicans , 33 Candida tropicalis and 31 Candida glabrata and standard strains of Candida spp. ( C. albicans ATCC 10231, C. glabrata ATCC 80030 and C. tropicalis ATCC 22019) were tested by disc diffusion method and the active extracts were assayed for the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC). Chloroform extracts of plants have no inhibitory effect against both clinical and standard strains of Candida spp., whereas methanol extracts exhibited good activity. Among the plants tested, M. piperita showed the highest anticandidal activity with 12.3 mm inhibition zone and 1.25 mg ml⁻¹ MIC value against C. albicans , M. longifolia , P. lanceolata and A. austriaca also displayed activity against C. albicans and C. tropicalis .     

Antioxidant properties of the essential oil of Eugenia caryophyllata and its antifungal activity against a large number of clinical Candida species

Many essential oils are known to possess an antioxidant activity and antifungal properties and therefore they potentially act as antimycotic agents. Essential oil of clove (Eugenia caryophyllata) was isolated by hydrodistillation. The chemical composition of the essential oil was analysed by gas chromatography and gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy. The antioxidant effect of the tested oil was evaluated by measuring its 2,2-diphenyl-l-1-picrylhydrazil radical scavenging ability and the antiradical dose required to cause a 50% inhibition (IC50) was recorded. The antifungal activity of essential oils was evaluated against 53 human pathogenic yeasts using a disc paper diffusion method. Our results show that the major components present in the clove bund oil were eugenol (88.6%), eugenyl acetate (5.6%), beta-caryophyllene (1.4%) and 2-heptanone (0.9%). The tested essential oil exhibited a very strong radical scavenging activity (IC50 = 0.2 microg ml-1) when compared with the synthetic antioxidant (tert-butylated hydroxytoluene, IC50 = 11.5 microg ml-1). On the other hand, this species displayed an important antifungal effect against the tested strains. It is clear that clove oil shows powerful antifungal activity; and it can be used as an easily accessible source of natural antioxidants and in pharmaceutical applications.     

Studies on the Antifungal Effect of Flucytosine (Ancobon®, Ancotil®)

Summary: The antifungal activity of Flucytosine (Ancobon®, Ancotil®) was tested against different pathogenic fungi. Five strains of each fungus species were used. Two different techniques were applied, namely the plate serial dilution and the time-concentration exposure procedure. Fungi of the yeast, yeast-like organisms, the tissue form of Blastomyces dermatitidis, and Sporotrichum schenckii were inhibited (fungistatic and/or fungicidal effect) at a concentration varying from 10–10,000μg/ ml medium. A concentration of 10 μg/ml medium proved to be fungicidal for Aspergillus fumi-gatus and Penicillium rubrum strains, however, a strain of both A. fumigatus A. candidum required a somewhat higher concentration of 20 μg/ml medium. The tested dermatophytes and nocardiae were not affected at all at the highest used concentration of the drug (2000–10,000 μg/ml medium). The growth of the facultative pathogenic fungi was totally inhibited at a concentration of 1000–2000 μg/ml medium. Using the time exposure procedure, the substance inhibited the growth of the tested yeast and yeast-like fungi at a concentration varied from 10–10,000 μg/ml in a time ranging from 1–6 hours. In this respect, C. rugosa, B. dermatitidis, Trichosp. cutane-um and G. candidum needed the highest used concentration (10,000 μg/ml) and the maximum exposure time (6 hrs.). A relatively longer exposure time up to 24 hrs. was required for the drug to inhibit the growth of the facultative pathogenic fungi. The substance did not exert any noticeable effect against the tested dermatophytes and nocardiae strains. The results are seen as encouraging and promising for the possible use of Flucytosine as a chemotherapeutic agent in veterinary medicine, especially in combating mammalian and avian respiratory tract infections caused by A.^: fumigatus and other allied fungi and also in cases of udder mycotic infections of both bovine and swine, particularly when C. tropicalis, C. guilliermondii and Torulopsis species are encountered. Zusammenfassung: Die antimykotische Wirksamkeit von Flucytosin (Ancotil®, Ancobon®) gegen verschiedene pathogene Pilze wurde untersucht. Fünf Stämme von jeder Pilz-Art wurden getestet. Zwei verschiedene Verfahren wurden angewendet, nämlich die Platten-Verdünnung und die Zeit-Konzentration-Expositionsmethode. Hefen, hefeähnliche Pilze, die Gewebe-Form von Blastomyces dermatitidis und Sporotrichum schenckii wurden bei unterschiedlichen Konzentrationen von 10–10 000 μg/ ml Nährboden) gehemmt. Eine Konzentration von 10 μg/ml Nährboden hatte eine pilzäbtotende Wirkung für Aspergillus fumigatus- und Penicillium rubrum-Stämme, jedoch brauchte je ein Stamm von beiden Arten (A. fumigatus und A. candidum) eine etwas höhere Konzentration von 20 μg/ml Nährboden, um das Gleiche zu erzielen. Die getesteten Dermatophyten und Nocardiae waren bei der hoheren angewendeten Konzentration der Substanz (2000–10 000μg/ml Nährboden) nicht beeinflußt. Das Wachstum der fakultativ pathogenen Pilze war generell bei einer Konzentration von 1000–2000 μg/ml Nährboden gehemmt. Unter den Bedingungen der Zeit-Konzentration-Expositionsmethode wurde das Wachstum der getesteten Hefen und hefeähnlichen Pilze bei einer Konzentration von 10–10 000 μg/ml in einem Zeitraum von 1–6 Stunden gehemmt. In dieser Beziehung bedurften C. rugosa, B. dermatitidis, Trichosp. cutaneum und G. candidum der höchsten angewendeten Konzentrationen (10 000 μg/ml) und Expositionszeiten (6 Stunden). Die Substanz hatte auf die getesteten Dermatophyten und Nocardiae keine be-merkbare Wirkung. Die Ergebnisse sind als ermutigend und vielversprechend für die mögliche Anwen-dung von Flucytosine als chemotherapeutisches Mittel in der Veterinär-Medizin, insbesondere für die Bekämpfung von Säugetier- und Geflügel-Atemwegsinfektionen, die durch A. fumigatus und ähnliche Pilze verursacht werden, anzusehen. Das gleiche gilt für mykotische Euterinfektionen von Rind und Schwein, wenn diese von C. tropicalis, C. guilliermondii oder Torulopsis-Arten hervorgerufen werden.     

Evaluation of the Antifungal Activity of Some Components of Volatile Oils Against Dermatophytes

Fifteen components of volatile oils were tested for their activity against Microsporum audouinii and Trichophyton mentagrophytes. The fungistatic activity was evaluated by the agar-diffusion and broth-dilution techniques. Comparison of the results showed that the latter technique was more reliable and could evaluate the fungicidal activity as well. Among the tested compounds, cinnamaldehyde possessed the highest fungistatic and fungicidal activities towards both dermatophytes. This was followed in descending order of activity by citral, geraniol and carvone. Eucalyptol was the least active, while geranyl acetate was devoid of any activity. The remaining compounds showed moderate activities, though M. audouinii was more sensitive than T. mentagrophytes.

Zusammenfassung

Fünfzehn Bestandteile flüchtiger Öie wurden auf ihre Wirksamkeit gegen Microsporum audouinii und Trichophyton mentagrophytes untersucht. Die fungistatische Wirksamkeit wurde mit Hilfe der Agardiffusion sowie durch Bouillon-Verdünnungs-reihen ermittelt. Der Vergleich der Ergebnisse zeigt, daß die zuletzt genannte Ermittlungsart zuverlässiger ist als die Agardiffusionsmethode. Zudem hat die Bouillon-Verdiinnungsreihe den Vorteil, daß sie audi zur Ermittlung der fungiziden Wirkung verwendet werden kann. Von den geprüften Verbindungen zeigte Cinnamaldehyd die hochste fungistische und fungizide Wirksamkeit gegen Dermatophyten.
Die antimykotische Aktivität nahm in seiner Wirkung wie folgt ab: Cinnamaldehyd, Citral, Geraniol und Carvon. Eukalyptol hatte die geringste Wirksamkeit, während für Geranylacetat überhaupt keine Wirkung festgestellt wurde. Bei den restlichen Verbindungen fanden sich noch geringere Aktivitäten. M. audouinii reagierte empfindlicher als T. mentagrophetes.     

In vitro activity of the protegrin IB‐367 alone and in combination compared with conventional antifungal agents against dermatophytes

The occurrence of resistance or side effects in patients receiving antifungal agents leads to failure in the treatment of mycosis. The aim of this experimental study was to investigate the in vitro effects of IB‐367 alone and in combination with three standard antifungal drugs, fluconazole (FLU), itraconazole (ITRA) and terbinafine (TERB), against 20 clinical isolates of dermatophytes belonging to three species. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs), minimal fungicidal concentrations (MFCs), synergy test, time‐kill curves, fungal biomass (FB) and hyphal damage using 2,3‐bis‐(2‐methoxy‐4‐nitro‐5‐sulfenylamino carbonil)‐2H‐tetrazolium hydroxide assay (XTT) were performed to study the efficacy of IB‐367. In this study, we observed that TERB and ITRA had MICs lower values for all the strains compared to IB‐367 and FLU. Synergy was found in 35%, 30% and 25% of IB‐367/FLU, IB‐367/ITRA and IB‐367/TERB interactions respectively. IB‐367 exerted a fungicidal activity against Trichophyton mentagrophytes, T. rubrum and Microsporum canis at concentrations starting from 1x MIC. At a concentration of 5x MIC, IB‐367 showed the highest rates of hyphae damage for M. canis 53% and T. mentagrophytes 50%; against the same isolates it caused a reduction of 1 log of the total viable count cell hyphae damage. We propose IB‐367 as a promising candidate for the future design of antifungal drugs.     

In vitro Evaluation of Cytotoxic Activities of Essential Oil from Moringa oleifera Seeds on HeLa,HepG2, MCF-7, CACO-2 and L929 Cell Lines

Moringa oleifera Lam. (Moringaceae) is widely consumed in tropical and subtropical regions for their valuablenutritional and medicinal characteristics. Recently, extensive research has been conducted on leaf extracts of M.oleifera to evaluate their potential cytotoxic effects. However, with the exception of antimicrobial and antioxidantactivities, little information is present on the cytotoxic activity of the essential oil obtained from M. oleifera seeds.Therefore, the present investigation was designed to investigate the potential cytotoxic activity of seed essentialoil obtained from M. oleifera on HeLa, HepG2, MCF-7, CACO-2 and L929 cell lines. The different cell lineswere subjected to increasing oil concentrations ranging from 0.15 to 1 mg/mL for 24h, and the cytotoxicity wasassessed using MTT assay. All treated cell lines showed a significant reduction in cell viability in response to theincreasing oil concentration. Moreover, the reduction depended on the cell line as well as the oil concentrationapplied. Additionally, HeLa cells were the most affected cells followed by HepG2, MCF-7, L929 and CACO-2,where the percentages of cell toxicity recorded were 76.1, 65.1, 59.5, 57.0 and 49.7%, respectively. Furthermore,the IC50 values obtained for MCF-7, HeLa and HepG2 cells were 226.1, 422.8 and 751.9 μg/mL, respectively.Conclusively, the present investigation provides preliminary results which suggest that seed essential oil fromM. oleifera has potent cytotoxic activities against cancer cell lines.     

Antifungal activity of the silver ion against contaminated fabric

An anti-fungal efficacy test of the silver laundry machine, which electrically generates silver ions, was carried out against four fungi--Trichophyton rubrum, Candida albicans, Microsporum canis and Aspergillus flavus--which cause major fungal infection in humans and animals. Compared with the conventional laundry machine, washing with the silver laundry machine regardless of detergent use was effective against most of the fungi with about 4 log(10) (CFU ml(-1)) reduction and eliminated almost all the fungi when using the detergent. Moreover, the cleaning activity of the silver laundry machine with detergent was higher than that of the conventional laundry machine with detergent both after wash and after final spin step against all four examined fungi. The silver laundry machine may be useful in preventing skin irritation caused by fungi-contaminated fabric in the hospital and in the home.