chemical composition, anti-fungal and cytotoxic effects of ferula macrecolea essential oil against candida albicans resistant and sensitive strains

Introduction: candidiasis therapy is a complicated concern because of the occurrence of resistance to antifungal agents. we studied the anti-fungal effects of ferula macrecolea essential oil (fme) against candida albicans resistant and sensitive strains, as well as its cytotoxic effects against normal and cancer cell lines. methods: the minimum inhibitory concentration (mic) and minimum fungicidal concentration (mfc) of f. macrecolea essential oil against c. albicans atcc 5027 and c. albicans atcc 76616 were studied by broth-microdilution approach. the cytotoxicities of fme on hgf1-pi (normal gingival cell line) and hepg2 (liver cancer cell line) cells were also studied. results: the main components of essential oil were terpinolene (71.25%), n-nonanal (6.32%), and linalool (3.95%), respectively. the mic and mfc of fme on c. albicans sensitive to nystatin were 1.6 and 2.0 μg/ml, respectively. the mic and mfc of fme on nystatin-resistant strains were 3.3 and 4 μg/ml, respectively. the mic and mfc of terpinolene on c. albicans sensitive to nystatin were 0.8 and 1.0 μg/ml, respectively. the mic and mfc of terpinolene on nystatin-resistant strains were 2 and 2.4 μg/ml, respectively. the essential oil and terpinolene had no significant cytotoxic effects against normal cells. conclusion: we revealed the promising antifungal effect of f. macrecolea essential oil and its main component, terpinolene, against c. albicans sensitive and resistant to nystatin with no significant toxicity on normal cells.