ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF MANJISHTADI ADITYAPAKA TAILA AND ITS OINTMENT - AN IN VITRO STUDY

Background : Infectious diseases remain a leading cause of public health concerns, and have the potential to significantly impair the quality of life or can be fatal. Candida albicans is the primary species responsible for causing symptomatic skin infections. Adityapaka is one of the methods of sneha preparation where the paka of sneha is done using sun rays instead of direct fire. Such AdityapakaSnehas are exclusively used for the treatment of skin diseases as they absorb Ultra Violet rays from sunlight. Manjishtadi AdityapakaTaila is one such herbo mineral formulation used externally for the treatment of Pama kushta, mentioned in Kushtadhikara of Chakradutta.Its preparation is explained to keep the Tilataila with powdered Manjishta, Hareetaki, Vibhitaki, Amalaki, Laksha, Nisa, Purified Manashila, Purified Haratala and Purified Gandhaka under the sunlight. So, this study is aimed to evaluate the antifungal activity of Manjishtadi AdityapakaTaila and its modified dosage form, the ointment, against two selected fungi, Candidaalbicans and Aspergillus niger by in vitro agar well diffusion method.

Methodology : The antifungal activity was evaluated by in vitro agar well diffusion method. Both the taila and ointment samples were divided into duplicates and each duplicate was prepared into three concentrations, 25%, 50% and 80% with the solvent hexane, and their antifungal activity was assessed against Candida albicans and  Aspergillus niger with Fluconazole 500 ppm and Clotrimazole 2000 ppm as the respective controls and their zone of inhibition were measured in mm.

Results : From the in vitro study, against Candida albicans, the taila showed 15 mm, 17 mm and 18 mm of zones of inhibition in concentrations 25%, 50% and 80% respectively, while the ointment showed more activity as it showed 19 mm of zone of inhibition in 80% concentration. Both the taila and ointment showed antifungal activity by 17 mm of zone of inhibition only in 80% concentration against Aspergillus niger. The zone of inhibition of respective controls were 20 mm.

Conclusion : The results imply that both the taila and ointment possess significant antifungal activity against Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger, and the pharmaceutical modification of the taila into ointment has contributed in enhancing its antifungal activity.