ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF CINNAMALDEHYDE AGAINST CANDIDA ALBICANS

Candida albicans is a common pathogen, especially among immuno-compromised patients. It is beginning to show resistance against the azole drug group, which is usually used to treat this pathogen. We studied the antifungal effects of cinnamaldehyde against C. albicans. Germ tube formation of C. albicans exposed to cinnamaldehyde was determined by the crystal violet based method. The effect of cinnamaldehyde on adhesion of C. albicans to buccal epithelial cells was investigated. Proteinase and phospholipase activities of C. albicans in the presence of cinnamaldehyde were assessed using bovine serum albumin agar and egg yolk agar, respectively. In this study, cinnamaldehyde possessed antifungal activity against C. albicans with a minimum inhibitory concentration of 125 mu g/ml. At sub-inhibitory concentrations, cinnamaldehyde significantly reduced germ tube formation, proteinase and phospholipase activities in a dose dependent manner (p<0.01). Cinnamaldehyde also significantly inhibited the adhesion of C. albicans to buccal epithelial cells (p<0.01). In our study, cinnamaldehyde had in vitro activity against C. albicans and inhibited some of its virulence factors.