Holy basil has anticandidal activity and works synergistically with the drugs fluconazole and ketoconazole. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Anticandidal effect of Ocimum sanctum essential oil and its synergy with fluconazole and ketoconazole.
Phytomedicine. 2010 Oct;17(12):921-5. Epub 2010 Apr 8. PMID: 20378320
Department of Biosciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India.
Holy basil, Ocimum sanctum (L.) is time-honored for its medicinal properties; however its antimicrobial characteristics are used only in 'Ayurvedic medicines'. Attention has been drawn to antifungal activity and a possible synergistic antifungal effect of Ocimum sanctum essential oil (OSEO) and established azole antimycotics-fluconazole and ketoconazole. To put forward this approach, antifungal activity has been assessed in seventy four fluconazole-sensitive and sixteen fluconazole-resistant Candida isolates. Hemolytic activity on human erythrocytes was also studied to rule out the possibility of allied additional cytotoxicity. The observed selectively fungicidal characteristics signify a promising candidature of O. sanctum essential oil as an antifungal agent in combinational treatments for candidosis.