Synergistic Antifungal Effects of Lactobacillus Strains and Nano Selenium on Growth Inhibition of Candida albicans

Candidiasis is a fungal infection caused by Candida albicans. Uncontrolled use of antibiotics has resulted in drug resistance. This study has been conducted to find a suitable alternative for these drugs. Primarily, standard and clinical isolates of C.albicans were collected. In order to indentify clinical isolates from lambs, the conventional mycological methods CHROM candida agar and germ tube production were used. The Antifungal effects of experimental treatments were evaluated against C.albicans by disk diffusion and measuring the growth inhibition zone in well diffusion method. Moreover, the MIC and MFC of experimental treatments were determined by microdilution method. The results of the well and disk diffusion methods showed that in both tests, the highest growth inhibition zone of the "Nano selenium-loaded lactobacillus" treatment was 29/41 and 27.64 mm, respectively on the standard strain of C.albicans. The results of MIC and MFC determination showed that in all experimental periods, "Nano selenium-loaded lactobacillus" and "Nano selenium+Lactobacillus" treatments with 473.80 and 511.91 μg/ml for MIC and 807.66 and 845.28 μg/ml for MFC had the lowest amounts compared to other treatments (P<0.05). The results of microbial tests on C.albicans confirm the antifungal ability of "Nano selenium-loaded lactobacillus" treatment. Therefore, provided that this test is repeated in future studies and the accuracy of these results is ensured, manufacturing of this product or industrial supplements with this formulation may be advised for prevention or treatment of fungal infections.