PHYTOCHEMICAL STUDY AND EVALUATION OF THE COMBINED ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF <i>Albizia adianthifolia</i> ROOT WITH TWO ANTIFUNGAL AGENTS AGAINST CLINICAL CANDIDA SPECIES

OFOKANSI K.C.¹, ATTAMA A.A.², UZOR P.F.³, ANI C.U.⁴, AGBO C.P.^5
1Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, 410001, Nigeria.
²Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, 410001, Nigeria.
³Department of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, 410001, Nigeria.
⁴Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, 410001, Nigeria.
⁵Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, 410001, Nigeria.

Received : 27-11-2013     Accepted : 18-12-2013     Published : 26-12-2013
Volume : 2     Issue : 1       Pages : 34 - 38
World Res J Antimicrob Agents 2.1 (2013):34-38

<i>Albizia adianthifolia</i> (commonly known as flat crown albizia) is a leguminous plant of the family Fabaceae. <i>A. adianthifolia</i> roots were extracted with methanol and the extract thereafter fractionated to afford the chloroform fraction. The root extract and the fraction were screened for their antimicrobial potential against clinical strains of <i>Candida spps</i> viz: <i>Candida albicans</i> and <i>Candida krusei</i> using agar diffusion method. Fluconazole and ticonazole were used as reference drugs. Combined activity of the plant extract or fraction with the reference drugs was done using the agar dilution Checker board method. Acute toxicity study and preliminary phytochemical analysis were carried out on the plant samples. The results obtained showed that the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of fluconazole/ticonazole ranges from 1.96 to 5.90 µg/ml while the MIC of the <i>A. adianthifolia</i> root extract/fraction ranges from 5.49 to 12.59 mg/ml against the test organisms. Synergy was predominantly observed in the interaction against <i>Candida species</i>. The median acute toxicity value (LD₅₀) of the methanol extract and chloroform fraction were determined to be greater than 5000 mg/kg body weight in each case. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, glycosides. It was concluded that the extract of <i>A. adianthifolia</i> and its chloroform fraction posses antimicrobial activity hence justifying the ethnomedical uses of the plant in the treatment of fungal infections. The combination of the extract and fluconazole or ticonazole produces synergism predominantly also indicating the potentials of combining the extract of the plant and the standard drugs for the treatment of candida infections.