TY - JOUR A2 - Valdramidis, Vasilis P. AU - Mertas, Anna AU - Garbusińska, Aleksandra AU - Szliszka, Ewelina AU - Jureczko, Andrzej AU - Kowalska, Magdalena AU - Król, Wojciech PY - 2015 DA - 2015/02/04 TI - The Influence of Tea Tree Oil (Melaleuca alternifolia) on Fluconazole Activity against Fluconazole-Resistant Candida albicans Strains SP - 590470 VL - 2015 AB - The aim of this study was to evaluate the activity of fluconazole against 32 clinical strains of fluconazole-resistant Candida albicans, and C. albicans ATCC 10231 reference strain, after their exposure to sublethal concentrations of tea tree oil (TTO) or its main bioactive component terpinen-4-ol. For all tested fluconazole-resistant C. albicans strains TTO and terpinen-4-ol minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were low, ranging from 0.06% to 0.5%. The 24-hour exposure of fluconazole-resistant C. albicans strains to fluconazole with sublethal dose of TTO enhanced fluconazole activity against these strains. Overall, 62.5% of isolates were classified as susceptible, 25.0% exhibited intermediate susceptibility, and 12.5% were resistant. For all of the tested clinical strains the fluconazole MIC decreased from an average of 244.0 μg/mL to an average of 38.46 μg/mL, and the fluconazole minimal fungicidal concentrations (MFC) decreased from an average of 254.67 μg/mL to an average of 66.62 μg/mL. Terpinen-4-ol was found to be more active than TTO, and strongly enhanced fluconazole activity against fluconazole-resistant C. albicans strains. The results of this study demonstrate that combining natural substances such as TTO and conventional drug such as fluconazole, may help treat difficult yeast infections. SN - 2314-6133 UR - https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/590470 DO - 10.1155/2015/590470 JF - BioMed Research International PB - Hindawi Publishing Corporation KW - ER -