Atividade antifúngica de óleos essenciais contra Rhizopus spp..: uma revisão da literatura.

Abstract

Mucormycosis is an infection caused by fungi of the order Mucorales, first described by Paultauf in 1885. It is a disease that can have a fatal evolution, especially in patients with a deficient immune system. Faced with the increase in resistance to the antifungal agents used, as well as the limitation of therapeutic options, this study aimed to identify which essential oils have the best antifungal activity Rhizopus. For this purpose, a narrative review of the literature was carried out in scientific databases: Pubmed, ScienceDirect, Medical Literature analysis and Retrieval Sistem Online (MEDLINE,) SciELO, LILACS, CAPES Periodical Portal, Google Scholar and the Virtual Health Library (VHL), using the descriptors Rhizopus, antifungal essential oils and therapeutic use, using the combination with the Boolean AND operator and refining the articles between the years 2010 and 2023. Using the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 45 articles were selected. The essential oils with the highest anti-Rhizopus activity were from the species: Thymus vulgaris; Cymbopogon citratus; Rosmarinus officinalis, Citrus paradiseIt is Cinnamomum verum.The first two showed proven inhibitory action and the remaining mechanism of action performed by them was not identified. The tests were performed in vitro through microdilution, macrodilution, micro atmosphere and in vivo with direct application on the target to be evaluated as in the study of toxicity of the essential oil of Thymus schimperin Wistar albino rats. It is concluded that the use of essential oils as a base or formula enrichment can contribute to the development of new drugs. It turns out that the studies in vitro may help in the continuation of the investigation of essential oils with antifungal potential against strains of Rhizopus spp. for therapeutic purposes.