Levantamento de extratos vegetais com ação anti-Candida no período de 2005-2013

Abstract

Among the relevant mycoses in public health, one that stands out is candidiasis, an opportunistic infection that affects humans and animals. The disease was considered uncommon in veterinary medicine, but reports show a signifcant increase, as well as resistance, to conventional antifungal agents. Therefore, research has been undertaken aimed at fnding bioactive substances from plants that fght against Candida. Thus, the objective of this work was to gather the databases SciELO and ScienceDirect with information between the years 2005 and 2013 concerning the anti-Candida activity of different plant extracts. A total of 78 families and 208 species of plants with activity against Candida spp. was found highlighting the Asteraceae, Geraniaceae, Myrtaceae, Fabaceae, Lamiaceae, Rubiaceae, Verbenaceae and Anacardiaceae families, with dichloromethane, aqueous, ethanol and methanol extracts and fractions and subfractions, being the leaf the most used plant part. The plants described showed anti-Candida activity, but some require very high concentrations of the extracts with little growth inhibition/elimination of these yeasts, with variations related mainly to the method of assessment, type of extract, plant parts and origin of the fungal isolates. The rarity of studies with isolates from animals, mainly clinical cases, draws attention. Finally, we highlight the Asteraceae and Geraniaceae families, which had a greater number of plant species with activity and which may be a source of research against Candida spp.