In Vitro Assessment of Conventional and Plant-derived Antifungal Agents against Candida Species Prevalence

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We investigated the In vitro Assessment of Conventional and Plant-derived Antifungal Agents against Candida species prevalence among pregnant women in Southeastern Nigeria. A total of 300 non-duplicate clinical samples from pregnant women were processed using the standard microbiological protocol for isolation and characterization of Candida species on CHROM agar Candida. The Antifungal Susceptibility Testing (AST) profile was performed using the Vitek 2 system. The plant-derived antifungal susceptibility testing with Cocos nucifera oil was performed using the Agar-well diffusion method. The result of isolation shows that the most prevalent Candida species was C. albicans 41.0 %, followed by C. glabrata 23.0 %, C. krusei 14.0 %, C. tropicalis 12.0 %, and C. dubliniensis 8.0 %. The antifungal susceptibility profile revealed that the Candida species were highly susceptible to voriconazole within the range of 82.6-100 % but were extremely resistant to Nystatin 100 %, micafungin 100%, and fluconazole 75.0 %-100%. The plant-derived antifungal susceptibility patterns of Cocos nuficera oil revealed that all the Candida species were 100% susceptible to Cocos nucifera oil at 100mg/ml, 50mg/ml, and 25 mg/ml (1:0, 1:2, and 1:4 dilutions) concentrations. Our findings have indicated that Cocos nuficera oil can serve as an alternative to contemporary antifungal agents if properly harnessed for in vivo utilization. Also, an agent such as voriconazole appeared as a better option for the management of Candida infection, in vitro susceptibility assay of another conventional antifungal agent for empirical antifungal treatment should rely on the outcomes of this study and antifungal susceptibility testing.