Propolis Antifungal Action Effective Against Vaginal Infections

The use of propolis as an antifungal agent has been documented in numerous studies and the increasing interest in the pharmaceutical industry to develop a clinical solution is not surprising since the non-toxic effects of propolis outweigh the negative side effects of drugs. Fortunately, propolis already exists as an ovule on the market... 

Evaluation of Mucoadhesive Gels with Propolis (EPP-AF) in Preclinical Treatment of Candidiasis Vulvovaginal Infection

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med, 2013, June 13 

Vulvovaginal candidiasis is the second cause of vaginal infection in the USA. Clinical treatment of C. albicans infections is routinely performed with polyenes and azole derivatives. However, these drugs are responsible for undesirable side effects and toxicity. In addition, C. albicans azole and echinocandin resistance has been described.

Propolis is a bee product traditionally used due to its antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and other properties. Therefore, the present work aimed to evaluate different propolis presentations in order to evaluate their in vitro and in vivo efficacy.

The methodologies involved antifungal evaluation, chemical analysis, and the effects of the rheological and mucoadhesive properties of propolis based gels. The obtained results demonstrated the fungicide action of propolis extracts against all three morphotypes (yeast, pseudohyphae, and hyphae) studied. The highest level of fungal cytotoxicity was reached at 6-8 hours of propolis cell incubation. Among the based gel formulations developed, the rheological and mucoadhesive results suggest that propolis based carbopol (CP1%) and chitosan gels were the most pseudoplastic ones. CP1% was the most mucoadhesive preparation, and all of them presented low thixotropy.

Results of in vivo efficacy demonstrated that propolis based gels present antifungal action similar to clotrimazole cream, suggesting that future clinical studies should be performed.