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Published on: December 5, 2020
The anti-dermatophyte activity of Zataria multiflora essential oils
M Mahboubi1, R HeidaryTabar1, E Mahdizadeh1
1Department of Microbiology, Medicinal Plants, Research Center of Barij, Kashan, Iran.
Objective:
Dermtophytes are a group of pathogenic fungi and the major cause of dermatophytosis in humans and animals. Fighting dermatophytes by natural essential oils is one important issue in new researches.
Materials And Methods:
In this investigation, we evaluated the anti-dermatophyte activities of three samples of Z. multiflora essential oils against dermatophytes along with analysis of chemical compositions of the essential oils and their anti-elastase activities on elastase production in dermatophytes.
Results:
Carvacrol (1.5-34.4%), thymol (25.8-41.2%), carvacrol methyl ether (1.9-28.3%) and p-cymene (2.3-8.3%) were the main components of Z. multiflora essential oils. Z. multiflora essential oils (100ppm) inhibited the mycelium growth of dermatophytes (6±1.7-47.0±1.4%) and had the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal fungicidal concentration (MFC) values of 0.03-0.25μl/ml against dermatophytes. Essential oils inhibited elastase produced in dermatophytes and pure porcine elastase.
Conclusion:
Z. multiflora essential oils can be used as natural anti-dermatophyte agent for fighting dermatophytes in further preclinical and clinical studies.
