Candidíase vaginal: a eficácia antifúngica do extrato de própolis no combate a Candida albicans.

Abstract

Vaginal candidiasis is considered a fungal infection, caused by Candida albicans and that directly affects women's quality of life. The treatment of patients with vaginal candidiasis is usually started without laboratory diagnosis and without confirmation of the etiologic agent, which contributes to therapeutic failure and is responsible for the increase in cases of fungal resistance. In view of this, new therapeutic possibilities may be promising in the development of new antifungals, as is the case with propolis extract. In this context, the study aims to understand, through an integrative review, the antifungal efficacy of propolis extract in the fight against Candida albicans. The methodology refers to an integrative research, carried out between May and September 2022, in the databases indexed in the Virtual Health Library. The guiding question is: What is the antifungal efficacy of propolis extract in the fight against Candida albicans? To search for articles, the following descriptors and their combinations in Portuguese were used: Propolis. Candida albicans. Vaginal candidiasis. Crossings will occur using the Boolean descriptor and. The results obtained from the analysis of the articles after crossing the descriptors in the Virtual Health Library (BVS), showed that when crossing the 03 descriptors simultaneously, only 02 articles were found after applying the filters included in the criteria of the search. Therefore, we chose to cross the two expressions: “Candida albicans” AND “Propolis”; and Vaginal Candidiasis AND “Propolis”, which obtained 69 and 03 studies, respectively. Four international studies were selected, published between 2020 and 2022, the English language and the MEDLINE database were predominant. It is concluded that the most varied studies carried out in different parts of the world have been using propolis in the treatment of vaginal candidiasis, since this material presents good results against C. albicans. Thus, it is necessary that more research is focused on this topic, allowing the results to help in the treatment of vaginal candidiasis and allow women to have access to such therapeutic methods.