In vitro Antibiotic and Modulatory Activity of Mesosphaerum suaveolens (L.) Kuntze against Candida strains

The emergence of fungal resistance to commercial drugs has been a major problem for the WHO. In this context, research with natural products is promising in the discovery of new active substances. Thus, this work evaluated the antifungal effect of a medicinal plant (i.e., ) against strains of the genus , tested the combined effect with the drug fluconazole, and, finally, determined the phenolic constituents present in the species. Initially, aqueous extracts of leaves (AELMs) and aerial parts (AEAPMs) of the species were prepared. For microbiological assays, the minimum fungicidal concentration was determined by broth microdilution, and the combined effect of fluconazole extracts were verified by sub-inhibitory microdilution concentrations (CFM/8) followed by spectrophotometric readings which were used to determine the IC . HPLC detected the presence of flavonoids and phenolic acids, detecting eight compounds present in the samples of which caffeic acid and quercetin were major components. The AELMs modulated fluconazole activity since it decreased fluconazole's IC from 7.8 µg/mL to an IC of 4.7 µg/mL (CA LM 77) and from 28.8 µg/mL to 18.26 µg/mL (CA INCQS 40006) for the strains. The AEAPMs were able to potentiate the effect of fluconazole more effectively than the AELMs. Such an effect was significant for the 16 µg/mL concentration for CA LM 77 and 32 µg/mL for CA INCQS 40006. The AEAPMs as well as the AELMs presented clinically relevant activities for strains. For the LM 23 strain, the AEPMs obtained an IC of 25 µg/mL and the AELMs an IC of 359.9 µg/mL.