The Antifungal Effects of Plant Extracts on Candida Albicans

Overview

The wax moth larvae, Galleria mellonella, is an emerging method for in vivo testing turned to by many, as it is becoming less and less acceptable to perform experiments on animals with vertebrates. Due to the similarities of the insect’s innate immune systems to those of mammals, wax moth larvae are thought to make adequate models for in vivo research. This project utilized wax moth larvae in the testing of the plant extract of Hydrastis canadensis (goldenseal), for its antifungal ability against the fungus Candida albicans. Goldenseal extract was selected out of the extracts of four supposedly antifungal plants: goldenseal, echinacea, olive leaf, and garlic, based on its superior performance against the fungus in disc diffusion assays. The same extracts were tested on Aspergillus niger; none were found particularly effective. Following the disc diffusion assays, several tests were performed on wax moth larvae to find out if injections of goldenseal could prevent illness induced by C. albicans. The extract was injected into each worm three times over a week and then injected with a dilution of the fungus. In most cases, larvae were unable to withstand all three goldenseal injections, and died before the C. albicans could be injected. It may be concluded that although wax moth larvae are models for the mammalian innate immune system, they do not have the durability to replace all other in vivo testing forms.

Competition history

• AJAS 2018 Category not listed

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