Study of Antifungal Effects of Nystatin, Clotrimazole and Miconazole on Candida Specimens Isolated from Patients

Candida genus comprises diverse species of yeast and yeast like fungi that some of them especially candida albicans are parts of the normal flora of human body. They are opportunistic parasites that cause diseases. There are currently limited effective drugs against those fungi. Hence this may lead to the emergence of resistant species. The aim of present study was evaluation of antimycotic effects of nystatin, clotrimazole and miconazole against candida species. Present survey is an experimental study that has evaluated antifungal effects of nystatin, clotrimazole and miconazole on candida species which were isolated from patients. These drugs were applied to 30 cases of candida albicans and 30 of other species of candida. In addition, resistant and sensitive species of candida were used. Broth and Agar mediums were used to culture the mentioned fungi and Minimum Inhibitory Concentration(MIC) was determined for each drug. Results showed that candida albicans species were more sensitive to clotrimazole and nystatin than to miconazole(P<0.01). Other candida species were more sensitive to all these drugs as compared to candida albicans(P<0.01). No significant difference was observed between the MIC averages of two methods. The MIC averages of nystatin, clotrimazole and miconazole for candida albicans were 2.2µg/ml, 2.6µg/ml and 18µg/ml respectively. The mean MIC of the mentioned drugs for other candida species was 0.81µg/ml, 0.56µg/ml and 1.2µg/ml respectively. Our results suggest that determination of species and doing sensitivity tests before any treatment are required and important and on the whole, nonalbicans species were more sensitive than albicans species in the presence of the above drugs.