Hojjatollah Shokri - Associate professor, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Amol University of Special Modern Technologies, Amol, Iran
Aghil Sharifzadeh - Assistant professor, Mycology Research Center, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of Carum copticum (C. copticum) essential oil on the growth and EAP1 gene expression of Candida albicans (C. albicans). All yeast strains were cultured onto sabouraud dextrose agar (SDA) slopes at 35°C for 2 days. The antifungal activity was evaluated by broth microdilution assay. One set of primers was specific to EAP1 gene region of pathogenic C. albicans. EAP1 transcript level was quantified using a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) protocol. The mean minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value of C. copticum oil against C. albicans strains was 352 μl/ml. Based on RT-PCR analyses, C. copticum oil at concentration of 352 μg/ml of completely inhibited the expression of EAP1 gene. In addition, the reduction in the expression of EAP1 gene was observed at the concentration of 88 μg/ml in dose-dependently manner. This study showed that all C. albicans isolates were susceptible to C. copticum essential oil, indicating a significant reduction in the growth of fungal isolates. In addition, this oil completely inhibited the expression of EAP1 gene in concentrations dose-dependently.

Candida albicans, Carum copticum, RT-PCR, EAP1 gene