Investigação da atividade antifúngica e o modo de ação de carvacrol contra cepas de cryptococcus neoformans.

Abstract

Cryptococcus neoformans yeast is the etiological agent of cryptococcosis, a fungal infection that mainly affects immunocompromised humans, as seropositive patients. The treatment of cryptococcosis is accomplished through the use of amphotericin B, a toxic drug for humans. Thus, research on natural products has been important because it enables the study of new substances with antifungal activity and are less toxic. The carvacrol fitoconstituinte is found in several essential oils of plants, as well as having broad biological action, including antifungal and antibacterial activity. The objective of this study was to investigate the antifungal action and carvacrol action mode against strains of C. neoformans. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined by the microdilution method; to investigate the Minimum Fungicidal Concentration (MFC) was determined by seeding technique on solid media and for studying the mode of action, was used and microdilution according Escalante et al (2008).The MIC ranged from 25 μg/mL to 81 μg/mL and ranged from CFM 25 μg/mL to 102 μg/mL. The carvacrol interacted with the exogenous ergosterol and cholesterol, the latter present in mammalian cells.