en Medical Biology Medical Biology مقاله پژوهشی Original Research Article <span style="font-size:10pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="background:#2d7f8f"><span style="color:white">Background & Objective:</span></span></span></b><b> </b><i><span lang="EN" style="font-size:9.0pt">Capparis spinosa</span></i><span lang="EN" style="font-size:9.0pt"> is a plant belonging to the genus Capari which is important for medicinal purposes. It is also known as a multipurpose plant in Persian medicine. In this study, we searched for natural active ingredients in mouthwash for immunocompromised patients and examined the antifungal plus antibacterial properties of the hydroalcoholic extract of the root of the Capparis plant against <i>Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans</i>) PTCC 1683 and <i>Candida albicans</i> (<i>C. albicans</i>) ATCC-10231 was investigated.</span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:10pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><b>&nbsp;</b><b>&nbsp;</b><b><span lang="EN-IN" style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="background:#2d7f8f"><span style="color:white"><span style="letter-spacing:-.1pt">Materials & Methods:</span></span></span></span></b> <span lang="EN" style="font-size:9.0pt">Ethanol extracts of plant roots were extracted by the percolation method. The diameter of the growth inhibition zone of <i>C. albicans</i> and <i>S. mutans</i> extracts was measured using the well plate method. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were calculated for bacterial and fungal strains. In addition, the minimum sterilization concentration (MBC) and minimum sterilization concentration (MFC) of the extract were investigated using the broth microdilution method. The results were compared with an antibacterial and antifungal drug of 0.2% chlorhexidine nystatin.</span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:10pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">&nbsp;<b><span lang="EN-IN" style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="background:#2d7f8f"><span style="color:white">Results: </span></span></span></b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:9.0pt">The results for both pathogens revealed that the diameter of the growth inhibition zone increased with elevation of the extract concentration. The MIC and MBC of <i>S. mutans</i> extract were 62.5 and 62.5 mg/ml, compared to 0.39 and 0.39 mg/ml for chlorhexidine. The MIC and MFC of the plant against the fungus <i>C. albicans</i> were 7.812 and 31.25 mg/ml, compared to 0.25 and 1.25 &mu;g/ml for nystatin.</span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:10pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><b>&nbsp;</b><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="background:#2d7f8f"><span style="color:white">Conclusion: </span></span></span></b><b>&nbsp;</b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:9.0pt">The ethanol extract of the Caparis plant had an antifungal effect on <i>C. albicans</i> and an antibacterial effect on <i>S. mutans</i>. However, the inhibitory and lethal effects against bacterial and fungal strains were lower than those of nystatin and chlorhexidine.</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="color:black"></span></span></span></span><br> &nbsp; Persian Medicine, Mouthwash, Immunosuppress, Antifungal agents, Antimicrobial agents, Candida albicans Capparis spinosa, Streptococcus mutans 226 234 http://journal.zums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-5620-3&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Narjes Khavasi nxavasi@zums.ac.ir 5200319475328460089429 5200319475328460089429 No Department of Persian Medicine, School of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran Mahdi Tavakolizadeh tavakoli@zums.ac.ir 5200319475328460089430 5200319475328460089430 No Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran 3. Department of Pharmacognosy and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Pharmacy, Iran University of saeed sardari Ssardari@zums.ac.ir 5200319475328460089431 5200319475328460089431 No Department of Persian Medicine, School of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran leila ghassemifard l.ghasemifard1988@gmail.com 5200319475328460089432 5200319475328460089432 No Department of Persian Medicine, School of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran mina reshadatifar reshadatifaramin@gmail.com 5200319475328460089433 0009-0007-0204-7952 No Department of Oral and maxilla facial medicine, School of Dentistry, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran milad darkhori darkhori@gmail.com 5200319475328460089434 0009-0009-3642-4829 No Department of Persian Medicine, School of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran Mina Mohebian m.mohebian@zums.ac.ir 5200319475328460089435 5200319475328460089435 Yes Department of Oral and maxilla facial medicine, School of Dentistry, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran fakhri haghi f.haghi@zums.ac.ir 5200319475328460089436 5200319475328460089436 No Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran saeid amanloo amanloos@gmail.com 5200319475328460089437 5200319475328460089437 No Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran kamyar mansori kamyarmansori@zoms.ac.ir 5200319475328460089438 5200319475328460089438 No Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran