ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF STILBENES AGAINST CANDIDA ALBICANS BY TIME KILL ASSAY

Candida albicans is one of the most important fungi associated with oral candidiasis and the treatment of this fungi is a serious problem today because of the resistance of these fungi against conventionally used drugs. So, there is an urgent need of alternative antifungal substances especially from the natural sources. The study was conducted to examine the MFC and time kill activity of two stilbenes [3, 4', 5-trihydroxystilbene (1) and 3,5-dihydroxy- 4-isopropylstilbene (2)] purified from a bacterium associated with entomopathgenic nematode against C. albicans. The activity was also compared to amphotericin B. The cytotoxicity of stilbenes was also tested against normal human cell lines (L231 lung epithelial and FS normal fibroblast). Results showed that stilbenes was effective against C. albicans with MIC and MFC of 64 and 128 mu g/ml for compound 1 and 32 and 64 mu g/ml for compound 2. The time kill assay of stilbenes against C. albicans was more effective than amphotericin B. No cytotoxicity was recorded for stilbenes upto 200 mu g/ml. The strong antifungal activity and low cytotoxicity of stilbenes make it a promising agent for the treatment of Candida.