Abstract

Valdir Francisco Odorizzi, Mariana Caroline Tocantins Alvim*, Adriana Idalina Torcato de Oliveira , Eliane Patrícia Lino Pereira Franchi , Juliana Fonseca Moreira da Silva and Raphael Sanzio Pimenta

Vaginitis is a condition that involves vulva and vaginal inflammation or infection, caused mainly by imbalance of vaginal microbiota. Its treatment is performed by the use of antimicrobials which are related with the appearance of resistant microorganisms, adverse effects and high rates of recurrence. Thus, interest in plants with antimicrobial activity has grown exponentially in academic area. For the first time, the antimicrobial activity of gervao (Verbena officinalis), malva branca (Malva sylvestris) and mentrasto (Ageratum conyzoides) ethanolic extractsis evaluated against clinical specimens of Candida spp. and Gardnerella vaginalis– important microorganisms in the etiology of vaginitis. Although the extracts did not present antifungal activity against Candida spp. specimens, the combination of the three extracts at 50, 100 and 200 mg.mL-1 exhibited antibacterial activity against all specimens of G. vaginalis. Gervao and mentrasto extracts combined at 50, 100 and 200 mg.mL-1were also able to inhibit the bacterial growth. Besides, those extracts had the lowest values of MIC (6.25 mg.mL-1 ), followed by the combination of mentrasto with malva branca– 6.25-25 mg.mL-1 – and the combination of the three extracts – 12.5-25 mg.mL-1 .Therefore, extracts of mentrasto and gervao are promising for the development of new strategies for the treatment of bacterial vaginosis.