Synergistic antifungal evaluation of over-the-counter antifungal creams with turmeric essential oil or Aloe vera gel against pathogenic fungi

BACKGROUND

The frequent incidence of fungal infection and widespread of antibiotic resistance are emergent concerns in public health. Hence, there is a need to harness the potential of natural bioactive compounds from plant towards treatment of fungal infection. Combination effect of antibiotic creams with natural products from plants is prospective strategy to produce new antifungal agent. This study therefore, revealed antifungal effect of combined Antifungal Creams (AFCs) with Turmeric Essential Oil (TEO) or Aloe vera Gel (AVG).

METHODS

Phytochemicals and bioactive compounds in TEO and AVG were revealed using GC-MS. Bioactive compounds in plant extracts were compared to known compounds in database library of National Institute of Standards and Technology (U.S.). Antifungal activity and synergistic effect of AFCs with TEO or AVG were carried out using agar well diffusion method.

RESULTS

Phenol, flavonoids, saponins, alkaloids, steroids, terpenoids and cardiac glycosides were present in TEO and AVG. GCMS revealed thirty-six (36) and eighteen (18) bioactive compounds in TEO and AVG, respectively. AFCs displayed zones of inhibition with values ranged from 5.0 to 14.3 mm, TEO was 5.0 to 11.0 mm and AVG was 8.0 to 11.7 mm against tested fungi. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) by AFCs, TEO and AVG ranged from 1.25 to 10.0 mg/ml. Combinatory effects of AFCs with TEO or AVG revealed synergistic and indifferent properties.

CONCLUSION

Development of novel products using bioactive ingredients from plants with commercially available AFCs will serve as potential alternative therapy to cure dermatological infections with no side effects.

Development and validation of an analytical method for the separation and determination of major bioactive curcuminoids in Curcuma longa rhizomes and herbal products using non-aqueous capillary electrophoresis

A simple, fast and efficient non-aqueous capillary electrophoresis method (NACE) was developed for the simultaneous determination of three major bioactive curcuminoids (CMNs) in Curcuma longa rhizomes and its herbal products. Good separation, resolution and reproducibility were achieved with the background electrolyte (BGE) consisting a mixture of 15.0 mM sodium tetraborate and 7.4 mM sodium hydroxide (NaOH) in 2:10:15 (v/v/v) of water, 1-propanol, and methanol. The influences of background electrolyte, sodium hydroxide, water, sodium dodecyl sulfate and hydroxylpropyl-β-cyclodextrin on separations were investigated. The separation was carried out in a fused-silica capillary tube with reverse polarity. Hydrodynamic injection of 25mbar for 12s was used for injecting samples and a voltage of 28 kV was applied for separation. The ultrasonication method was used for the extraction of CMNs from the turmeric herbal products and the extract was filtered and directly injected without any further treatments. The limits of detection and quantification were less than 5.0 and 14.6 µg/ml respectively for all CMNs. The percentage recoveries for CMNs were >97.2% (%RSD, <2.62). The results obtained by the method were compared with existing spectrophotometric and HPLC methods. The related compounds in the extract did not interfere in the determination of CMNs. The proposed NACE method is better than existing chromatographic and electrophoretic methods in terms of simple electrophoretic medium, fast analysis and good resolution.