en Oral medicine Oral medicine Original article Original article <div> <table align="center" hspace="0" vspace="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="padding: 0in 12px; text-align: justify;" valign="top"><span style="font-size:13pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:" verdana=""><span style="color:#2e74b5">Background and Aim</span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:" verdana=""><span style="color:#2e74b5">:</span></span></span></b><b> </b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:" verdana="">There are some rich sources of antifungals in medicinal herbs. They have general acceptance due to their low cost and insignificant side effects. The efficacy of Peganum harmala (P. harmala) extract against Candida species was investigated in this study</span></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:" verdana="">. &nbsp;&nbsp;</span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:13pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:" verdana=""><span style="color:#2e74b5">Materials and Methods</span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:" verdana=""><span style="color:#2e74b5">:</span></span></span></b> <span lang="EN" style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:" verdana="">In this in vitro study, we used the maceration technique to obtain P. harmala aqueous and alcoholic extracts, and assess their antifungal activity against different species of Candida albicans (C. albicans), Candida glabrata (C. glabrata) and Candida krusei (C. krusei). We used the microdilution method to calculate the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). The tests were repeated in triplicate for higher accuracy</span></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:" verdana="">. </span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:13pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:" verdana=""><span style="color:#2e74b5">Results</span></span></span></b><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:" verdana="">: </span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:" verdana="">The aqueous and alcoholic P. harmala extracts showed antifungal activity against C. albicans in 100 mg/mL concentration. The antifungal efficacy of P. harmala alcoholic extract against C.<br> glabrata (MIC: 100 mg/mL) was higher than the aqueous extract (MIC:200 mg/mL). The antifungal efficacy of P. harmala alcoholic extract against C. krusei (MIC: 1.56 mg/mL) was higher than the aqueous extract (MIC: 12.5 mg/mL</span></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:" verdana="">).</span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:13pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:" verdana=""><span style="color:#2e74b5">Conclusion:</span></span></span></b> <span lang="EN" style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:" verdana="">The aqueous and alcoholic extracts of P. harmala were effective against all species of Candida particularly Candida krusei. The alcoholic extract of P. harmala<b> </b>was more effective than its aqueous extract against C. glabrata and C. krusei.</span></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""></span></span></span></span></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div> Candida albicans, Candida glabrata, Peganum 133 141 http://jrdms.dentaliau.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-853-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 M Baharvand 100319475328460010404 100319475328460010404 Yes Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Medicine, School of Dentistry, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran M Hakemi-Vala 100319475328460010405 100319475328460010405 No Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran M Mehdipour 100319475328460010406 100319475328460010406 No Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Medicine, School of Dentistry, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran L Dehghani L_dehghani64@gmail.com 100319475328460010407 100319475328460010407 No School of Dentistry, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran E Jalali elnaz510@yahoo.com 100319475328460010408 100319475328460010408 No Private Dental Practice, Oral & Maxillofacial Radiology private practice, Miami, Florida, USA F Anbari fahimeh.anbari@sbmu.ac.ir 100319475328460010409 100319475328460010409 No Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Medicine, School of Dentistry, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran