85%). The well diffusion test This test was performed using Saborauds agar. The inoculum used was prepared using the yeasts from a 24-hour culture on Saborauds agar, selleck 17-DMAG a suspension was made in a sterile saline solution (0.85%). The turbidity of the suspension was adjusted with a spectrophotometer at 530 nm to obtain a final concentration to match that of a 0.5 McFarland standard (0.5�C2.5 �� 103). The inoculated agar was poured into the assay plate (9 cm in diameter), and allowed to cool down on a leveled surface. Once the medium had solidified ��wells�� each 4 mm in diameter, were cut out of the agar (Figure 7), and 20 ��l of the eluates from Fluconazole (10%), Chlorhexidine (10%), and the combination drug (5% Fluconazole + 5% Chlorhexidine) were placed each into a well in separate assay plates.

Control cups containing the Drug Release Device (DRD) ��Control�� alone were also included in each assay plate (Figures 8�C10). The plates were incubated at 35��C for 72 hours. Figure 7 Saborauds culture medium inoculated with Candida albicans. Note the three wells prepared to accommodate the eluates from Fluconazole (10%), Chlorhexidine (10%), and the combination drug (5% Fluconazole + 5% Chlorhexidine) discs soaked in distilled water … Figure 8 Demonstrating the zone of inhibition of the Candida albicans growth around the well that contained the DRD with 10% Fluconazole antifungal drug. Note the absence of an inhibition zone around the well that contained the control, i.e., the DRD alone.

Figure 10 Demonstrating a remarkably wide zone of inhibition of the Candida albicans growth around the well that contained the DRD with combined antifungal drugs, 5% Fluconazole and 5% Chlorhexidine. Note the absence of an inhibition zone around the well that contained … The absence of growth of Candida albicans, demonstrated by the occurrence of growth inhibition zone around the wells that contained the DRD supplemented with the drugs was interpreted as antifungal activity of the drugs. The antifungal efficacy of each drug was expressed by measurement of the diameter of the inhibition zone, using ��pbi Readbiotic�� (pbi international, Milano, Italy) measuring device, present around the well which accommodated the DRD that contained the specific drug. Each experiment was carried out five times for each antifungal drug doped-DRD and was correlated against the controls.

Statistical analysis Statistical Package for Social Sciences software (SPSS, version Cilengitide 16.0, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) was employed in the analysis of the various data sets. The differences in the release behavior of Fluconazole, chlorhexidine, and the combination release were determined by Kruskal-Wallis test. The differences in diameter values of the Inhibition Zones of Candida albicans growth produced by Fluconazole, Chlorhexidine, and the combination of the two drugs after 24 hours incubation were determined using the paired-sample t-test. All statistical tests were performed at 0.