Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Crit Care Med. Sep 9, 2024; 13(3): 92531
Published online Sep 9, 2024. doi: 10.5492/wjccm.v13.i3.92531
Antimicrobial and synergistic effects of lemongrass and geranium essential oils against Streptococcus mutans, Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida spp.
Patrícia Michelle Nagai de Lima, Thaís Cristine Pereira, Lara Steffany de Carvalho, Letícia Ferreira dos Santos, Carlos Eduardo Rocha Oliveira, Lucas de Paula Ramos, Maria Cristina Marcucci, Amjad Abu Hasna, Luciane Dias de Oliveira
Patrícia Michelle Nagai de Lima, Thaís Cristine Pereira, Lara Steffany de Carvalho, Letícia Ferreira dos Santos, Lucas de Paula Ramos, Maria Cristina Marcucci, Luciane Dias de Oliveira, Department of Biosciences and Oral Diagnosis, Institute of Science and Technology, São Paulo State University, São José dos Campos 12245000, SP, Brazil
Carlos Eduardo Rocha Oliveira, Anhembi Morumbi University, School of Medicine, São José dos Campos 12230-002, SP, Brazil
Amjad Abu Hasna, Department of Restorative Dentistry, Endodontics Division, Institute of Science and Technology, São Paulo State University, São José dos Campos 12245000, São Paulo, Brazil
Author contributions: De Lima PMN, Pereira TC, de Carvalho LS, dos Santos LF, Oliveira CER, Ramos LP, Marcucci MC, Abu Hasna A, and de Oliveira LD designed the study; De Lima PMN, Pereira TC, de Carvalho LS, dos Santos LF, Oliveira CER, and Ramos LP performed the research; De Lima PMN, Pereira TC, de Carvalho LS, dos Santos LF, Oliveira CER, Ramos LP, Marcucci MC, Abu Hasna A, and de Oliveira LD contributed new reagents/analytic tools; Marcucci MC, Abu Hasna A, and de Oliveira LD analyzed the data; De Lima PMN, Pereira TC, de Carvalho LS, dos Santos LF, Oliveira CER, Ramos LP, Marcucci MC, Abu Hasna A, and de Oliveira LD wrote the paper.
Institutional review board statement: Since our research was conducted in vitro and did not involve human participants, it was not necessary to obtain approval by the local Institutional Review Board.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Data sharing statement: The data used to support the findings of this study are available upon reasonable request from the corresponding author at d.d.s.amjad@gmail.com.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Amjad Abu Hasna, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Restorative Dentistry, Endodontics Division, Institute of Science and Technology, São Paulo State University, Av. Engenheiro Francisco José Longo, 777 - Jardim Sao Dimas, São José dos Campos 12245000, São Paulo, Brazil. d.d.s.amjad@gmail.com
Received: January 29, 2024
Revised: April 30, 2024
Accepted: June 11, 2024
Published online: September 9, 2024
Processing time: 214 Days and 5.5 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

The oral cavity harbors more than 700 species of bacteria, which play crucial roles in the development of various oral diseases including caries, endodontic infection, periodontal infection, and diverse oral diseases.

AIM

To investigate the antimicrobial action of Cymbopogon Schoenanthus and Pelargonium graveolens essential oils against Streptococcus mutans, Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans, Ca. dubliniensis, and Ca. krusei.

METHODS

Minimum microbicidal concentration was determined following Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute documents. The synergistic antimicrobial activity was evaluated using the Broth microdilution checkerboard method, and the antibiofilm activity was evaluated with the 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5 diphenyl tetrazolium bromide assay. Data were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance followed by the Tukey post-hoc test (P ≤ 0.05).

RESULTS

C. schoenanthus and P. graveolens essential oils were as effective as 0.12% chlorhexidine against S. mutans and St. aureus monotypic biofilms after 24 h. After 24 h P. graveolens essential oil at 0.25% was more effective than the nystatin group, and C. schoenanthus essential oil at 0.25% was as effective as the nystatin group.

CONCLUSION

C. schoenanthus and P. graveolens essential oils are effective against S. mutans, St. aureus, Ca. albicans, Ca. dubliniensis, and Ca. krusei at different concentrations after 5 min and 24 h.

Keywords: Antifungal effect; Lemongrass; Geranium; Candida albicans; Candida dubliniensis; Candida krusei; Staphylococcus aureus; Streptococcus mutans

Core Tip: To the best of our knowledge, no study has evaluated the antimicrobial action of the essential oils of herbal plants, Cymbopogon Schoenanthus and Pelargonium graveolens, against different Candida spp. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the antimicrobial action of C. schoenanthus and P. graveolens essential oils against Streptococcus mutans, Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans, Ca. dubliniensis, and Ca. krusei monotopic biofilms. The results will facilitate the future development of novel antimicrobials and antifungals capable of combating these multiresistant microorganisms present in the hospital environment, acting both prophylactically and to combat already colonized microorganisms.