Antifungal activity of essential oils and their potential synergistic effect with amphotericin B

• Published in: Scientific reports 2024-12, Vol.14 (1), p.31125-13, Article 31125
• Main Authors: Yuan, Xin, Cao, Dan, Xiang, Yanghui, Jiang, Xiuzhi, Liu, Jiaying, Bi, Kefan, Dong, Xu, Wu, Tiantian, Zhang, Ying
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 631/326/193; 631/326/22; Acetic acid; Amphotericin B; Amphotericin B - pharmacology; Antifungal activity; Antifungal agents; Antifungal Agents - chemistry; Antifungal Agents - pharmacology; Antimicrobial activity; Benzoic acid; Candida albicans; Candida albicans - drug effects; Carvacrol; Cinnamomum zeylanicum - chemistry; Cinnamon; Citral; Citronellal; Cymene; Cymenes; Drug combination; Drug resistance; Drug Synergism; Essential oils; Eucalyptus - chemistry; Fungicidal activity; Gas chromatography; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; GC-MS; Geranyl acetate; Honey; Humanities and Social Sciences; Hyphae; Infections; Mass spectrometry; Mass spectroscopy; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; multidisciplinary; Neral; Oils & fats; Oils, Volatile - chemistry; Oils, Volatile - pharmacology; Opportunist infection; Satureja - chemistry; Satureja montana; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Stationary phase; Synergistic effect
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-82380-0

Candida albicans is a common opportunistic pathogen, causing infections ranging from superficial to bloodstream infections. The limited antifungal options and rising drug resistance challenge clinical treatment. We screened 98 essential oils and identified 48 with antifungal activity against Candida albicans at 1% concentration, determining their minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC). Of these, 14 maintained fungicidal activity at lower concentrations (0.25% and 0.125%). 5 essential oils (Cinnamon, Satureja montana, Palmarosa, Lemon eucalyptus, and Honey myrtle) showed the highest inhibitory effects on stationary-phase Candida albicans and inhibited hyphae elongation. Synergistic effects were observed when combining Palmarosa with amphotericin B (AmB) against growing-phase Candida albicans , while Cinnamon and Satureja montana with AmB showed superior efficacy against stationary-phase infections. We identified the active components of 5 essential oils using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and found the following main constituents: Cinnamon primarily contains benzyl benzoate and eugenol, Satureja montana is dominated by carvacrol and cymene, Palmarosa features geraniol and geranyl acetate, Lemon eucalyptus includes dl-Isopulegol and citronellal, and Honey myrtle is characterized by citral and neral. Our results may aid in developing more effective antifungal treatments.