Activity of Silybum marianum in Oral Candidiasis of Albino Rats

Silybum marianum is a primitive compound mixture that has pharmaceutical and pharmacological activities. Studies have highlighted the role of Silybum marianum in treating candidiasis. The aim of the study was to evaluate the in vivo anticandidal and ulcer healing capacity of Silybum marianum-extract. Silybum marianum was prepared in aqueous extract which showed a positive result for the presence of four phytochemical compounds. In vitro anticandidal effect was reported for the extract against Candida albicans ATCC 7012. Animals were partitioned into three; group I treated with distilled water (negative control), group II treated with oral Silybum marianum-extract and group III treated with oral fluconazole (positive control). Treatment protocol was carried out for 7 days, then rats of three groups were sacrificed for histology and microbiology assessment. Silybum marianum-extract demonstrated a beneficial eradicating activity on C. albicans comparable to that of fluconazole and in enhancing ulcer healing rate (ulcer length: 810 µm vs 381.77 µm of negative control group and extract-treated group, respectively). Silybum marianum may be suggested as an alternative or an adjuvant therapy to standard existing drugs used for treatment of oral candidiasis.