ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF GARLIC AGAINST Cryptococcus neoformans AND Cryptococcus gattii
AGLAUPE MOREIRA DE AGUIAR DO CARMO
Departamento de Microbiologia, Laboratório de Biologia Celular de Micro-Organismos, ICB – Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil
LUDMILLA HENRIQUES QUEIROZ
Departamento de Microbiologia, Laboratório de Biologia Celular de Micro-Organismos, ICB – Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil
VIVIANE DE SOUZA ALVES *
Departamento de Microbiologia, Laboratório de Biologia Celular de Micro-Organismos, ICB – Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Allium sativum (Garlic) is recognized as a potent drug for thousands of years, and in recent decades, various authors reported potent antimicrobial activity of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Garlic, showing a potent antifungal activity against Cryptococcus neoformans. Cryptococcosis is an important disease caused by C. neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii. The disease caused by C. neoformans occurs mainly in immunosuppressed hosts and infections caused by C. gattii predominate in immunocompetent individuals. This work confirms that Garlic have fungicidal activity against ATCC strains of C. neoformans and is the first report of antifungal activity against C. gattii.
Keywords: Garlic, Allium sativum, Cryptococcus neoformans, Cryptococcus gattii