Effects of the essential oil of Cymbopogon winterianus against Candida albicans

Wylly Araújo de Oliveira; Juliana Moura Mendes Arrua; Paulo Alves Wanderley; Rita Baltazar de Lima; Edeltrudes de Oliveira Lima

doi:10.5123/S2176-62232015000300003

Authors

Wylly Araújo de Oliveira Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brasil
Juliana Moura Mendes Arrua Laboratório de Biotecnología, Centro Multidisciplinario de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas, Dirección General de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica, Universidad Nacional de Asunción, Asunción, Paraguay
Paulo Alves Wanderley Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia da Paraíba, Sousa, Paraíba, Brasil
Rita Baltazar de Lima Laboratório de Botânica, Departamento de Sistemática e Ecologia, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brasil
Edeltrudes de Oliveira Lima Laboratório de Micologia, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brasil

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5123/S2176-62232015000300003

Keywords:

Cymbopogon, Antifungal Agents, Candida albicans

Abstract

Candida spp. are commensal and opportunistic pathogens virtually present in all humans. Candida albicans is pathogenic for man and became resistant to antifungal agents, therefore it is important in the search of new antifungals. The study aimed to investigate the mechanism of action of Cymbopogon winterianus essential oil against C. albicans. Morphological changes were observed in C. albicans when exposed to several concentrations of oil by microculture technique for yeasts, using agar-rice in moist chamber. Cellular leakage was analyzed after cell lysis by absorbing compounds at 260 nm; it was also assessed the bind of essential oil with ergosterol. C. winterianus essential oil inhibited the formation of pseudohyphae and chlamydoconidia in all concentrations tested, it caused cellular lysis and the minimum inhibitory concentration of the oil in presence of ergosterol increased until eight times, indicating binding to ergosterol.