Abstract

Background: Candida albicans is one of the normal flora of the skin, mucous membranes and gastrointestinal tract. Vaginal candidiasis remains a significant problem in women of childbearing age, majority of the cases are caused by C. albicans and recurrence is common in spite of topical treatment.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to develop the antifungal agent from the medicinal herbs traditionally used in Korea.

Methods: In this study, extracts from roots of Paeonia japonica were examined for antifungal activities against C. albicans. Dried roots of Paeonia japonica were extracted with dichloromethane, methanol, water respectively and serially. Liquid column chromatography and thin layer chromatography were used to separate the fractions with antifungal activity, and mass spectrometric analysis was done to determine the mass.

Results: Dichloromethane extract showed the highest antifungal activity aginst C. albicans. Result of fractionation and mass spectrometric analysis revealed that there were six materials: propanal, cytidine, hexadecanoic acid, cholesterol, octadecanoic acid and a unidentified material.

Conclusion: Dichloromethane extract from Paeonia japonica could be a candidate for a new antifungal agent against C. albicans.

Keywords

Paeonia japonica Dichloromethane extract Antifungal activity Candida albicans

KJMM 2006 March;11(1):19-26(8). Epub 2016 February 20
Copyright © 2006 by Korean Journal of Medical Mycology

Language

Korean/English

Author

Inwha Seong; Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, Korea University

Corresponding

Inwha Seong, Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, Korea University. Tel: (02) 920-6167, Fax: (02) 923-3645

Publication history

Acknowledgements

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Inwha Seong

Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, Korea University

Since epub date 2016 February 20