Effect of nystatin and licorice on yeasts isolated from the oral lesions of patients with cancer under chemotherapy (in vitro study)

Abstract

Background: Oral candidiasis is one of the most common manifestations of patients with
cancer under chemotherapy. Due to many side effects of chemical antifungal products and various
advantages of herbal extracts like licorice, this study was performed to compare the antifungal
effects of nystatin and licorice on yeasts isolated from oral mucosa of patients with cancer
receiving chemotherapy.
Materials and Methods: In this in vitro study, a total number of 30 patients with oral candidiasis
who received chemotherapy were examined. The samples were prepared by using swabs taken
from the lesions, and after 48 h, they were transferred and cultured on Sabouraud dextrose agar.
The antifungal effect of licorice was compared with nystatin using agar disk diffusion method.
These data were entered in SPSS statistical software and were analyzed with Kruskal–Wallis and
Mann–Whitney tests. (α = 5%).
Results: Four types of candida were identified among all 30 oral lesions (Candida albicans,
Candida glabrata, Candida stellatoidea, and Candida SP). The mean inhibition zone diameter around
nystatin showed a significant difference (P < 0.001) between C. albicans (9.486), C. glabrata (8.627),
C. stellatoidea (7.00), and C. sp (7.06) but the inhibition zone diameter around licorice was almost
zero in all groups.
Conclusion: Licorice extracts did not show any antifungal effects whereas nystatin showed the
most antifungal effect against C. albicans.
Key Words: Chemotherapy, glycyrrhiza, nystatin, oral candidiasis