comparison of the effects of juglans nigra green husk and clotrimazole on candida albicans in rats

Background: black walnut (juglans nigra) is known to have antimicrobial and antifungal effects in vitro. objectives: this study aimed to compare the effects of extracts derived from green-husked walnut with clotrimazole against candida albicans in female rats. methods: in this study, 35 female wistar rats were randomly assigned to 5 groups. a total of 4 groups of rats were infected vaginally with c. albicans and 1 group was not infected (negative control). the 4 infected groups received the following treatments: 2 groups received vaginal creams containing 2% or 4% of j. nigra extracts, respectively, 1 group received 1% clotrimazole, and 1 group did not receive any treatment (positive control). all rats received treatments for 2 weeks. results: the mean number of colony forming unit (cfus) before intervention was 308.2  8.73 and 219  13.4 in the 2% and 4% j. nigra group, 312.7  28.32 in the clotrimazole group, 233.85  8.15 in the positive control, and 0 in the negative control group (p < 0.001). after 1 week, the number of cfus significantly decreased to 71.13.9 in the 2% j. nigra, 0 in both 4% j. nigra and clotrimazole groups, 230.79.86 in the positive control, and 0 in the negative control group (p < 0.001). after 2 weeks, no cfus were detected in any of the infected groups except for the positive control group. conclusions: vaginal creams containing 4% j. nigra significantly eliminated c. albicans in female rats after 1 week and its effect was similar to that of clotrimazole.