Vulvovaginal candidiasis is the second cause of vaginal
infection in the USA. Clinical treatment of C. albicans
infections is routinely performed with
polyenes and
azole derivatives. However, these drugs are responsible for undesirable side effects and toxicity. In addition, C. albicans
azole and
echinocandin resistance has been described.
Propolis is a bee product traditionally used due to its antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and other properties. Therefore, the present work aimed to evaluate different
propolis presentations in order to evaluate their in vitro and in vivo efficacy. The methodologies involved antifungal evaluation, chemical analysis, and the effects of the rheological and mucoadhesive properties of
propolis based
gels. The obtained results demonstrated the fungicide action of
propolis extracts against all three morphotypes (yeast, pseudohyphae, and hyphae) studied. The highest level of fungal cytotoxicity was reached at 6-8 hours of
propolis cell incubation. Among the based gel formulations developed, the rheological and mucoadhesive results suggest that
propolis based
carbopol (CP1%) and
chitosan gels were the most pseudoplastic ones. CP1% was the most mucoadhesive preparation, and all of them presented low thixotropy. Results of in vivo efficacy demonstrated that
propolis based
gels present antifungal action similar to
clotrimazole cream, suggesting that future clinical studies should be performed.