Evaluation of Antifungal Activity of Methanol Extract of Acacia (Anagalis Arvensis) Leaves and Nystatin against Candida Albicans in Vitro

Background: anagalis is the name of scarlet pimpernel, with about 20 to 25 species of flowering plants in the family myrsinaceae. the common variety (a. arvensis) is a low-growing annual plant found in europe, asia and north america. in this investigation, the inhibitory effects of methanol extract of anagalis arvensis leaves and drug nystatin on clinical isolates and standard strain of candida albicans (14053 ptcc) isolated from patients with vulvovaginal candidiasis were studied.materials and methods: in the laboratory study of 45 clinical isolates of candida albicans was used and inhibitory effects of the extract were evaluated using by serial dilution method. chemical compounds of a. arvensis extract including alkaloids, glycosides, phenolic compounds, terpenoids and amino acids were identified.results: the results showed that the minimum inhibitory concentration (mic) nystatin against clinical isolates and standard strain of candida albicans were similar and drug nystatin revealed the better mic against standard strain and clinical isolates of c. albicans. methanol extract of a. arvensis were inhibitory on standard strain and clinical isolates of c. albicans. the minimum inhibitory concentration of extract in comparison with the drug nystatin was less while the composition of the growth inhibitory concentration was greater than drug solely.conclusion: this study indicated that the antimicrobial activity of this plant extract was considerable compared to drug nystatin and it demonstrate a basis for further research to isolate the active components in a variety of microbial strains.