Therapeutic effects of medicinal plants in vulvovaginal candidiasis: A review on randomized clinical trials

Introduction: Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC), characterized by cheesy vaginal discharge, pain during sexual intercourse and itching is the fungal infection of female genital tract. Candida albicans is the common causative agent for this condition followed by many non-albicans Candida species. Due to the greater concern of drug resistance in Candida species, many alternative therapeutic methods have been proposed, including the use of various plant extracts. The alternate methods are effective in treating the symptomatic cases by reducing the clinical symptoms and Candida load. The objective of this review is to explore the therapeutic effectiveness of various plant extracts in vulvovaginal candidiasis. Materials and methods: A literature survey was performed in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar to find relevant clinical trials on vulvovaginal candidiasis. After the removal of duplicates, a total of 21 clinical trials were considered to evaluate the anti-Candida activity of medicinal plant products against vulvovaginal candidiasis. Results: The results of the clinical trials show that, the extracts from Curcuma longa, Zingiber officinale, Allium sativum, Zataria multiflora and Lawsonia inermis have showed potent anti-Candida activity and many other plant products were found to be as effective as the conventional drugs used. Conclusion: Due to the limited number of clinical trials available, it is difficult to come to a conclusion regarding the clinical effectiveness of various plant extracts in the effective treatment of vulvovaginal candidiasis. So, more research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of each of these plant extracts as therapeutic alternatives to treat this condition.