الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Candida is a severe life-threatening pathogen, particularly in immunocompromised patients. Empirical use of antifungal drug therapy for the treatment of Candida infections has been a burden for years due to high cost, drug toxicity, and Candida resistance to common antifungal. This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of eight medicinal plant extracts against twenty-five Candida isolates which isolated from urine samples of different patients, identification and assessment of virulence factors of the most sensitive isolates (germ tube initiation, biofilm formation, phospholipase, esterase and hemolysins activities), protein profile, morphological changes in treated cells using SEM and TEM, and induction of apoptosis.
Results revealed that the most potent plants which possess the highest degree of activity against all the studied Candida were Cinnamomum cassia and Allium sativum. The broad spectrum of activity was recorded for the benzene extract of Cinnamomum cassia 100 mg/ml (inhibition zone 35.33±0.58 mm) and chloroform extract of Allium sativum 100 mg/ml) inhibition zone 35.33±0.58 mm). Results also showed that Cinnamomum cassia and Allium sativum extracts have more antifungal effects than the commercial antifungal used (Clotrimazole1 mg/ml). Results demonstrate inhibition of all virulence factors in the treated tested Candida. The loss of the correct cell shape and cell wall integrity was visualized by both the SEM and TEM techniques. The antagonistic effects of these extracts were associated with a marked decrease in pathogenesis-related proteins (PRP) expression in the treated treatments and resulted in the induction of novel proteins not detected in the untreated control. Induction of apoptosis indicated by the presence of DNA fragmentation and formation of apoptotic bodies also appeared in the treated Candida cells. In conclusion, the obtained results explained that both tested extracts exert their antiproliferative effect by targeting virulence and inducing apoptosis in treated Candida cells which might be suitable targets for novel antifungal treatments. The separation of active constituents of Cinnamomum cassia and Allium sativum extracts indicates the presence of trans-cinnamaldehyde and metyle allyl disulphide as the main constituents respectively.