Antifungal Activities of Different Extracts of Marine Macroalgae Against Dermatophytes and Candida Species

• Published in: Mycopathologia (1975) 2012-09, Vol.174 (3), p.223-232
• Main Authors: Guedes, Elica Amara Cecilia, dos Santos Araújo, Maria Anilda, Souza, Aryanna Kelly Pinheiro, de Souza, Larissa Isabela Oliveira, de Barros, Lurdiana Dayse, de Albuquerque Maranhão, Fernanda Cristina, Sant’Ana, Antônio Euzébio Goulart
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Algae; Antifungal activity; Antifungal agents; Antifungal Agents - isolation & purification; Antifungal Agents - pharmacology; Arthrodermataceae - drug effects; Beaches; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Brazil; Candida - drug effects; Candida albicans; Canis; Chloroform; Dichloromethane; Drugs; Ethanol; Eukaryotic Microbiology; Fungal infections; Fungi; Life Sciences; Medical importance; Medical Microbiology; Methanol; Microbial Ecology; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Microbiology; Microsporum canis; Minimum inhibitory concentration; Mycoses; n-Hexane; Pathogens; Plant Sciences; Seaweed - chemistry; Seaweeds; Trichophyton rubrum
• ISSN: 0301-486X; 1573-0832
• DOI: 10.1007/s11046-012-9541-z

Algae are bioactive natural resources, and due to the medical importance of superficial mycoses, we focused the action of macroalgae extracts against dermatophytes and Candida species. Seaweed obtained from the Riacho Doce beach, Alagoas (Brazil), were screened for the antifungal activity, through crude extracts using dichloromethane, chloroform, methanol, ethanol, water and chloroform and hexane fractions of green, brown and red algae in assays with standard strains of the dermatophytes Trichophyton rubrum , T. tonsurans, T. mentagrophytes, Microsporum canis, M. gypseum and yeasts Candida albicans, C. krusei, C. guilliermondi and C. parapsilosis . The M44-A and M27-A2/M38A manuals by CLSI were followed, and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ranged from 0.03 to 16.00 μg ml −1 , and an inhibition halo of 10.00–25.00 mm was observed for dermatophytes, while for yeast, it was from 8.00 to 16.00 μg ml −1 and 10.00–15.00 mm. M. canis showed MIC of 0.03 μg ml −1 and the largest inhibition halo in T. rubrum (25.00 mm) through the use of the methanol extract. For C. albicans , dichloromethane, methanol and ethanol extracts formed the largest inhibition halo. The ethanol extract was shown to be the best inhibiting fungi growth, and chloroform and hexane fractions of H. musciformis inhibited the growth of all dermatophytes and C. albicans , yielding the conclusion that apolar extracts obtained from algae presented the best activity against important pathogenic fungi.