COMPARATIVE EFFICACY OF TEA TREE OIL NANOEMULGEL AND TEA TREE OIL GEL AGAINST CANDIDA ALBICANS.

Fungal skin infections are caused by different types of fungi, including dermatophytes and yeasts. Increased use of antibiotics and immunosuppressive drugs such as corticosteroids are major factors contributing to higher frequency of fungal infections. Fungi can infect almost any part of the body including skin, nails, respiratory tract, urogenital tract, alimentary tract, or can be systemic. Anyone can acquire a fungal infection, but the elderly, critically ill, and individuals with weakened immunity, due to diseases such as HIV/AIDS or use of immunosuppressive medications, have a higher risk. Nanoemulsion based gel is a promising approach. The present study was aimed to compare an in vitro efficacy of nanoemulgel, tea tree oil gel and placebo carbopol 934 P gel by cup-plate method. Tea tree oil loaded nanoemulgel was formulated using 1% w/w carbopol 934P in optimized nanoemulsion formulation. The antifungal study was carried out using Candida albicans strain (MTCC NO: 227). The zone of inhibition for tea tree oil nanoemulgel (37±1.3 mm) was found to be significantly higher (p=0.05) as compared to tea tree oil gel (19±1.5 mm) and placebo carbopol 934 P gel (00±1.1 mm). Based on the observations, it was concluded that tea tree oil in nanoemulgel formulations due to its nanosize is able to inhibit the growth of candida albicans more efficiently as compared to tea tree oil normal gel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]