Inhibitory Effect of Aqueous Salvia officinalis’s leaves in the Growth of Candida albicans from Infected Women with Vaginal Candidiasis

Abstract

Background: Salvia officinalis is a plant belong to
Labiatae family .The common name of Salvia is sage
which mean save. The leaves of Salvia have special
oil which is effective against filamentous fungi and
yeasts such as Candida albicans which is the
causative agent of vaginal candidiasis in women
Methods. Cultures from 50 swabs of Candida
albicans isolated from vagina of 70 patient women
who complains from vaginal problems, their ages
(24-43) years from Central City Hospital during
Febreoury 2009 to April 2009 were cultured on
Sabouraud Dextrose Agar (SDA) .Nystatin was used
as positive reference standard to determine the
sensitivity of this fungus . and less this concentration
there was no minimum inhibition for the Candida
Results: The aqueous extract of Salvia officinalis at
various concentrations inhibited the growth of C.
Albicans . This inhibitions reached to a maximum of
100% for extract at 25 mg / ml and the minimum
inhibition was 170 mm at 15 mg /ml for the extract .
While the minimum and maximum inhibition for
nystatin was at 50 μg/ml,and less concentration. There
was no minimum inhibition for the Candida
Conclutions : The findings provide support for the
use of this plant in traditional medicine for fungal
infections especially against candidiasis .