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Antifungal activity of methylparaben (p-hydroxybenzoic acid methyl ester)

against human pathogenic fungi

Conference Paper · August 2015

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6 authors, including:

Ali Rismanbaf Fatemeh Tajfar

Islamic Azad University islamic azad medical university of tehran
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Masoomeh Shams-Ghahfarokhi Mehdi Razzaghi-Abyaneh

Tarbiat Modares University Institut Pasteur International Network
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 Antifungal activity of methylparaben
(p-hydroxybenzoic acid methyl ester) against human
pathogenic fungi
*Ali Rismanbaf1, Fatemeh Tajfar1, Zahra Esmaeili1, Mahshad Khodaveisi1, Masoomeh Shams-Ghahfarokhi2, Mehdi Razzaghi-Abyaneh3
ali.rismanbaf.me@gmail.com
1
Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran – Iran (IAUPS)
2
Department of Mycology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran 14115-331, Iran
3
Department of Mycology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran 1316943551, Iran

Introduction Results and Discussion

Parabens are a group of chemicals that are derived from benzoic acid. Because of
anti-bacterial property, parabens are classified in the group of preservatives. Inexpensive
price and excellent effect in preventing decomposition providing a widely use of
parabens to extend the life of food products and cosmetics from 50 years ago. In this
study, growth inhibitory effect of methylparaben (Figure 1) was evaluated against
Aspergillus niger , Aspergillus flavus and Candida albicans as important human
pathogenic fungi.
Based on the results obtained, methylparaben strongly inhibited the growth of all fungi
tested by zone of inhibition ranged from 25 to 35 mm after 48 h. This compound induced
a clear zone of fungal growth inhibition of 25 mm for A. niger, 30 mm for C. albicans
and 35 mm for A. flavus (Figure 3). In this study, we demonstrated that methylparaben
showed the antifungal activity against human pathogenic fungi. According to the results,
as for low costs of production, chemical stability and low toxicity of methylparaben and
rapid development of resistant strains to the old antifungal agents, these results suggest
that we may can use this compound as a novel antifungal agent with worldwide usage.
Methylparaben's derivatives with different structure and different alkyl chain length, may
have better antifungal activity than methylparaben; this issue and the operating
mechanism of these compounds need more study in future.
Zone of Inhibition (mm)

Figure 1 _ Methylparaben

Materials and Methods

The disk diffusion method was used to evaluate antifungal activity of methylparaben.200
µg Methylparaben dissolved in 800 µg ethanol (purity 98.0%) at room temperature and
inseminated on blank discs. Aspergillus niger, A. flavus and C. albicans were cultured on
Muller Hinton agar plates and blank discs containing methylparaben (400 µg/disc;
dissolved in ethanol) were placed on the surface of the culture plates. Cultures were Figure 3 _ Zone of inhibition diagram
maintained for 48 h at 30 °C (for Aspergillus species) and 37 °C (for C. albicans) and
the zone of inhibitions around the disks were measured and considered as an index of
antifungal activity (figure 2).

Conclusion

With respect to the strong antifungal activity, methylparaben may consider as a good
candidate for application in human and animal health practices as an antifungal as well as
a preservative for preventing food, drug and cosmetics fungal deterioration.

References

Błędzka D, Gromadzińska J, Wąsowicz W. Parabens. From environmental studies to

human health. Environ Int. 2014 Jun; 67:27-42.
Figure 2 _ Clear zones of growth inhibition caused by methylparaben for Ito S, Yazawa S, Nakagawa Y, Sasaki Y, Yajima S. Effects of alkyl parabens on plant
Aspergillus flavus (left) and Candida albicans (right) in disk diffusion assay pathogenic fungi. Bioorg Med Chem Lett. 2015 Apr 15; 25(8): 1774-7.

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