The anti-candidal activity of Satureja khuzistanica ethanol extract against clinical isolates of C. albicans.

Candida albicans is the common cause of some infectious diseases such as vaginal candidiasis or candidemia. Due to the emergence of drug resistant isolates of C. albicans, finding a new anti-Candida agent is a new strategy for current treatments. This study evaluated the anti-candidal activity of Satureja khuzistanica ethanol extract against clinical isolates of C. albicans. S. khuzistanica ethanol extract from aerial parts of plant at full flowering stage was evaluated against 30 clinical isolates and two ATCC reference strains of C. albicans by disc diffusion and micro-broth dilution assay. Also, in this study we evaluated the synergistic effects of amphotericin B, clotrimazole and ketoconazole with S. khuzistanica ethanol extract. The means of MIC and MFC of S. khuzistanica ethanol extract against clinical isolates were 299.4 and 722.6 (μg/mL), respectively. S. khuzistanica ethanol extract increased the anti-candidal effect of amphotericin B and ketoconazole, while it had no synergistic effect on clotrimazole against clinical isolates of C. albicans. Therefore, S. khuzistanica ethanol extract can be introduced as a new source of anti-candidal agent against clinical isolates of C. albicans.