Uji Antifungi Ekstrak Daun Salam (Syzygium Polyanthum) terhadap Jumlah Spora pada Tikus Model Kandidiasis Oral

Abstract

Every year, the prevalence of fungal infections continue to increase, but until now, the safe and effective antifungal has not been found. An antifungal drugs have several limitations, low effectiveness, high toxicity, and causing side effects. Therefore, the research of alternative antifungal that effective and safe particularly made from natural ingredients are needed. One natural medicine that have antifungal effect is bay leaves (Syzygium polyanthum). Bay leaves (Syzygium polyanthum) contain several secondary metabolites that function as antifungals, namely flavonoids, terpenoids, alkaloids, and essential oils. This study aims to analyze the ability of bay leaf extract (Syzygium polyanthum) for oral candidiasis systemic therapy in rat models of oral candidiasis. The method used was observing the number of spores on the rat's tongue using a direct swab method five days after therapy. Observations were made using Lactophenol Cotton Blue (LCB) staining. The results of the study showed that there were no differences between sample groups after five days therapy. This result is possible because the flavonoid in bay leaf extract (Syzygium polyanthum) beside antifungal also can suppresses the rat immune system toward candida infection. Flavonoids inhibit IL-17 production. IL17 is an antifungal cytokine key in response immune to fungal infection. This research concludes that the bay leaf extract (Syzygium polyanthum) cannot reduce the number of spores from direct swabs on the tongues of the oral candidiasis rat model after five days therapy.