Evaluation of antifungal activity of white-colored mineral trioxide aggregate on different strains of Candida albicans in vitro

AIM: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antifungal action of various concentrations of white mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) against seven different strains of Candida albicans using the tube dilution test. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fresh mix of MTA was prepared at concentrations of 100, 50, 25, and 12.5 mg/ml and added to a broth tube containing Sabouraud's liquid medium. A total of 1287 broth tubes were prepared and divided into experimental and control groups. Stock cultures of seven strains of C. albicans were obtained. Fresh inoculate of the microorganism was prepared by growing overnight cultures. Aliquots of the test C. albicans were taken and added to the test tubes. All tubes were incubated at 37°C for 1-, 24-, 72-, and 168-h time periods. At each time period, the presence of C. albicans colonies was assessed. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Differences among the groups were statistically analyzed using Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney U tests. RESULTS: Results showed that one strain showed resistance even after 3 days at the lower MTA concentrations of 12.5 and 25 mg/ml. Growth reoccurred with three strains at MTA concentration of 12.5 mg/ml after 7 days. A significant difference was found between strain 3 and other strains at MTA concentrations of 12.5 and 25 mg/ml at the 3-days time period and between tubes containing 12.5 mg/ml and tubes containing higher concentrations of MTA at the 7-days time period. CONCLUSION: White MTA in concentrations of 100 and 50 mg/ml is effective in inhibiting the seven tested strains of C. albicans for periods up to 1 week.