Combining Plant Essential Oils and Antimycotics in Coping with Antimycotic-Resistant Candida Species

Resistance of microorganisms to antimicrobial agents is becoming a growing concern worldwide. Plant essential oils have potential in treatment of fungal infections not only due to direct antifungal activity but also because of their complex healing properties. Combining essential oils with antimycotics opens perspectives in increasing activity of both agents and also in prolonging use of antimycotics which are currently becoming less effective due to rising resistance of fungi. The aim of this chapter is to summarize studies on anti-Candida effect of combinations between essential oils and antimycotics, and to formulate prospects for future researches in this area. Analysis of published studies has shown that the most studied are combinations of essential oils with either amphotericin B or fluconazole in vitro. There is a lack of in vivo studies, and furthermore, even results of in vitro studies it is difficult to compare because of absence of uniform standard techniques for evaluation of antimycotic-essential oil combinations. These gaps should be filled in future researches. Moreover, future studies should be directed on antifungal activity of combinations between essential oil components and antimycotics, and between essential oils and other classes of antimicrobial agents, such as antiseptics, metallic nanoparticles, and quorum-sensing inhibitors.