Candida spp. is the most common microbial pathogen in fungal infections. There has been a tremendous increase in cases of candidiasis, especially among critically ill non-neutropenic patients. Candida albicans' isolates were procured from the Prince Sultan Military Hospital, Riyadh, KSA. The isolates were characterized for their identification using CHROMagar, carbohydrate metabolism, germ tube formation, and RAPD-PCR techniques. The essential oil of Thymus vulgaris was obtained by hydro-distillation and characterized to decipher the major bioactive phytoconstituents. The antifungal activity of the thyme essential oil (TEO) was evaluated against fluconazole-resistant C. albicans isolates. The major phytocomponents identified by GC/MS were thymol (68.1%) followed by γ-terpinene (8.9%), cymol (7.7%), caryophyllene (1.1%), linalool (1.4%). The TEO successfully reduced the growth of C. albicans isolates. At very low doses, the TEO proved to be fungi static and fungicidal. TEO also effectively inhibited the germ tube formation and budging of fungal pathogens. The time kill assays have shown that TEO was more effective against drug resistant clinical isolates than fluconazole. This study provides an array of experimental evidence regarding the therapeutic efficacy of TEO against the drug-resistant clinical isolates of C. albicans. The findings may be used in the development of a new antifungal agent accordingly.
Keywords: Candida albicans; essential oil; fluconazole resistance; thyme.