REVIEW ON VULVO-VAGINAL CANDIDIASIS AND MEDICINAL PLANTS TARGETING VULVO-VAGINAL CANDIDIASIS

Vulvovaginal candidiasis is an infection of the Candida genus infecting vagina or vulva with a number of clinical symptoms that can occur acutely, chronically or episodically. An approximate 75 % of women have at least one episode of vulvovaginal candidiasis, and 40% to 50% have two or more episodes of vulvovaginal candidiasis, followed by vulvar symptoms such as vaginal discharge, itching, burning, pain and odor. The search for anti-Candida agents with new pharmacological targets is considered as the main therapeutic strategy to prevent and treat these types of infections because they are inherently resistant to antimicrobial drugs such as azole derivatives. Purpose of this study is to review the vulvo-vaginal candidiasis medicinal plants used to treat candidiasis. Different databases such as Google scholar and Science direct etc. were searched for collection of data.  Various medicinal plants were found effective in the treatment of candidiasis. This review indicates that medicinal plants possess potential anti-candidal properties and suggests screening the potential of plants possessing broad-spectrum anti-candidal effects against emerging Candida infections.