Terminalia arjuna flowers: Secondary metabolites and antifungal activity

Abstract

The current increased incidence of fungal infections could be attributed to the increased number of immunocompromised patients who usually suffer from fungal infection. Accordingly, the development of antifungal agents with wide spectrum of activity or new mechanism of action is a crucial need. Yeasts such as Candida sp., filamentous fungi such as; Aspergillus sp., Fusarium sp. and Rhizopus sp., as well as the dermatophytes Trycophyton sp., Microsporum sp. and Epidermophyton sp. are considered as the most frequent fungal pathogens. Among all invasive fungal infections, Candida represents 70-90% while Aspergillus represents 10-20% 1 . In immunosuppressed patients receiving chronic corticosteroid treatment, A. fumigatus is responsible for over 70% of all cases of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis. Recently, pulmonary aspergillosis was also noted as a secondary complication of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), especially among critically ill patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) 2 .Candidiasis is the infection with overgrowth of Candida species, especially C. albicans, in the mucous membranes such as oral cavity and vagina 3 . Oral candidiasis occurs in children, patient on antibiotic or steroid therapy, or immunodeficient patients, while in women Candida infection causes vaginitis, white vaginal discharge and itching 3 .Plant kingdom offers a wide diversity of species with different enzyme systems and biochemical patterns. This provides a wide and undepletable source of chemical chemical moieties with variable biological activities. Testing the antifungal activity of plant extracts, using