Candida spp. na cavidade oral de indivíduos hospitalizados e não-hospitalizados e ação antifúngica de óleos essenciais sobre isolados de Candidíase Atrófica Crônica

Abstract

One of the aims of this study was to compare the frequency of Candida spp., in the oral cavity of non-hospitalized and hospitalized subjects. Candidiasis constitutes the most common oral mycotic infection, with a high frequency in users with prosthetic devices, who can develop chronic atrophic oral candidiasis. Therefore, due to the antifungal drug resistance and with the need to obtain new therapeutic compounds for the oral candidiasis treatment, the other aim of this research was to evaluate the chemical composition and the cytotoxicity of the essential oils of Cuminum cyminum (cumin), Anethum graveolens (dill), Pimpinella anisum (anise) and Foeniculum vulgare (fennel), as well as their in vitro antifungal activity against isolates of Candida spp. The results showed colonization of Candida spp., in 47,1% of the non-hospitalized individuals and of 85,7% in the hospitalized patients, being that these presented 6,73 times more likely to have Candida spp. The main chemical components of the essential oils were; the cuminaldehyde (32,66%) for the cumin, the carvone (34,89%) for the dill, the trans-anethole (94,01%) for the anise and the anethole (79,62%) for the fennel. In the cellular viability assay, performed in mice’s fibroblasts, the fennel and anise essential oils were not cytotoxic in all the tested concentrations; however the cumin essential oil was cytotoxic in the concentration of 20 mg.mL-1 and the dill essential oil in the concentrations of 20 and 8 mg.mL-1 respectively. All the ten yeasts were sensitive to the evaluated essential oils, being the C. cyminum the one that presented the lowest Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC), being of 4,375mg.mL-1. It can be concluded that Candida spp., has a higher frequency in hospitalized patients and the essential oils of C. cyminum, P. anisum and F. vulgare were not cytotoxic at the same minimum inhibitory concentrations obtained for fungi.