Yeasts as Important Agents of Onychomycosis: In Vitro
Activity of Propolis Against Yeasts Isolated from Patients with Nail Infection
Objective: The purposes of this study were to determine the
frequency of the yeast species obtained from patients with clinical features of
onychomycosis and the in vitro antifungal susceptibility of the yeast species
to propolis.
Methods: A prospective study was carried out at the Mycology
Research Center in Iran from 2010 to 2011. Clinical diagnosis was performed by direct
microscopic examination and culture. Different yeast species were identified by
morphological and biochemical tests. An antifungal susceptibility test to
fluconazole (FLU) and propolis by the broth microdilution method was performed
on each isolate.
Results: One hundred and twenty-eight fungal isolates were
obtained. The most prevalent fungi were yeasts (81, 63.2%), dermatophytes (36,
28.1%), and nondermatophyte fungi (11, 8.6%). Fingernails were more affected
than toenails (65.4% vs. 19.8%, respectively). The most frequently found
species was Candida albicans (38.5%), followed by Candida spp. (23.1%), C.
tropicalis (10.8%), C. kefyr (6.2%), C. krusei (3.1%), Malassezia globosa
(4.6%), M. slooffiae (4.6%), and M. pachydermatis (1.5%). Of all yeast isolates
(65), seven showed resistance to FLU. The average MIC of propolis for
FLU-susceptible isolates was 5.8 μg/mL, whereas this value was 12.25 μg/mL for
FLU-resistant isolates.
Conclusion: Our results proved that the propolis inhibits
the growth of pathogenic yeasts and confirmed the efficiency of propolis as an
anti-Candida and anti-Malassezia agent.
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