Antifungal activity of essential oil and alcoholic extract of Carum copticum against fluconazole-resistant and susceptible Candida albicans isolated

Ajowan is an annual herbaceous essential oil of Carum copticom. The main components of the oil are Tymol, β-pinene, γ- terpinene and Sabinene.The fruit oil of Carum copticum has been reported to have several therapeutic effects including anti fungal, anti bacterial and anti viral,... Candida albicans is an opportunistic fungus and transforms into pathogenic form in favorable conditions, causing fungal diseases. In this study, essential oil and alcoholic extract of Carum copticum were gained and Microdilution Broth method were used for detection of minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicide concentration (MFC) of 11 clinical isolates of Candida albicans and Standard strain (PTCC50-27). Results show that MIC for essential oil is 0.43 µg/ml, 0.87 µg/ml and for alcoholic extract is 3.51 µg/ml, 7.03 µg/ml, 1/75 µg/ml. Thus, it seems that Carum copticum could inhibit Candida albicans growth by a similar mechanism which occurs by Fluconazole (FLZ). In general, the results obtained in this study indicate that Carum copticum has potential values for growth inhibition of Candida albicans in vitro. Conclution: In recent years, systemic fungal infections due to Candida species have been received major consideration about inducing mortality in nosocomial patients because of increasing in immunocompromised disorders such as AIDS and hematological disorders as well as long term use of Phlebotomus perfiliewi transcaucasicus sandflies. This is the first report on natural infection of sand flies to L. donovani in the country and since the ecology and biology of L. donovani differs extensively from L. infantum, it is necessary to perform further studies to highlight the role of L. donovani in epidemiology of VL in the region and country.