Background and Aim: The prevalence of drug resistance in fungi reveals the importance of introducing more efficient and less toxic drugs. Given the anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial qualities of Teucrium polium, this study aimed to examine the antifungal mechanism of ethanolic and methanolic extracts of this plant against Candida albicans and Candida parapsilosis.Materials and Methods: First, the methanolic and ethanolic extracts of Teucrium polium were prepared by the Soxhlet method. The antifungal effects of the extracts were determined by the agar well diffusion and MIC
methods. Glucose, sodium, and potassium were identified in the tubes with minimum inhibitory concentration
by autoanalyzer and flame photometry methods. Moreover, amino acids were measured by HPLC. Yeast cell
wall alterations were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM).
Results: The MICs of the ethanolic extract of Teucrium polium on Candida albicans and Candida parapsilosis were 125 and 31.25 mg /ml, respectively, while the MICs of the methanolic extract of the plant against the test organism were 125 and 62.5 mg /ml, respectively. For both types of candida spp., ethanolic and methanolic extracts leaked out less sodium, potassium, glucose, and amino acids than amphotericin B did. Utilizing HPLC analysis, the most amino acids in tubes with the minimum inhibitory concentration of Teucrium polium extracts were glutamine, threonine, and alanine. SEM showed damage in the cell wall of Candida albicans and Candida parapsilosis.
Conclusion: This study showed that Teucrium polium is a strong source of antifungal compounds. This plant has a mode of action similar to that of amphotericin B on the fungal cell membrane, by creating a pore in the membrane.Furthermore, based on the release rate of glucose, sodium, and potassium, the methanolic extract was
more efficient than the ethanolic extract