Antifungal activity of ethanolic extracts of Ocimum gratissimum and Vernonia amygdalina leaves against dermatomycotic agents isolated from domestic animals in South Eastern Nigeria

This study aims to isolate dermatomycotic agents from domestic animals and evaluate, using ethanolic leaf extracts ofOcimum gratissimum andVernonia amygdalina, the in vitro antifungal profile of these extracts against these isolates. A total of 698 domestic animals (dogs, sheep, goats, and pigs) were examined for skin lesions suggestive of dermatomycosis and skin scrapings collected. The agar well diffusion assay was used to evaluate the in vitro activity of both leaf extracts using voriconazole and their solvent, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), as control positive and negative respectively. Results showed that among the fungal positive cultures, dermatophytes (5) and non-dermatophytes (55) were observed. These isolates exceptPenicillium spp. showed activity with ethanolic leaf extracts ofO. gratissimum (128  μg/ml) andV. amygdalina (128  μg/ml) and were susceptible also to the positive control voriconazole (0.03 μg/ml). Therefore, the main dermatomycotic agents isolated from domestic animals in South Eastern Nigeria wereMicrosporum spp.,Trichophyton spp.,Aspergillus spp., andPenicillium spp., and these were susceptible toO. gratissimum andV. amygdalina at 128  μg/ml. The study confirms that these extracts exhibit antifungal activity to these dermatomycotic agents excludingPenicillium spp., and as they were cheap, less toxic, safe natural product, and readily available, they are preferred to synthetic drugs.
Source: Comparative Clinical Pathology - Category: Pathology Source Type: research