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Did you know that persistent nail fungus (Onychomycosis), an infection caused by fungi that affects many people’s nails? The development of an effective product against this type of infection was the expectation of an IFMA student, right at the beginning of her research. Last March 10, the student Nayara Rejanne Gusmão Lopes from the Licentiate Course in Biology, from the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Maranhão (IFMA) Campus São Luís – Monte Castelo, presented the completion of the course (monograph), with issue: “Development of a cinnamaldehyde-based drying oil for the treatment of onychomycosis: In vitro trials”. The project was guided by Professor Cristina de Andrade Monteiro and co-supervised by Professor Iven Neylla Farias Vale Mendes.
According to Nayara Lopes, the research was based on the following assumptions:Cinnamaldehyde has antimicrobial properties. Standardized drying oil containing Cinnamaldehyde acts on fungal-infected nails with fungicidal activity, and also the in vitro model of human nail infection developed in microplates is suitable for testing antimicrobial substances.’
The student informed that, right at the beginning of the research, she already had the expectation of reaching this end result which resulted from the development of a product that was effective against fungal nail infections because the “The drying oil formulated during the research was developed with the aim of having cinnamaldehyde (CNMA) as an active ingredient, as the CNMA compound has pharmacological potential, with antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, angiogenic and healing effects, in addition to being considered low toxicity” – found Nayara.
For professor and adviser Cristina de Andrade Monteiro, the most important moment of Nayara’s research was “to demonstrate the efficacy of oil containing cinnamaldehyde relative to the same oil without the compound. Without the presence of cinnamaldehyde, drying oil increases the growth of nail fungus.’ the teacher pointed out.
Student Nayara Lopes and advisor Cristina Monteiro
The research went through the stages: synthesis of natural products, development of a pilot test, development of the in vitro model using human nails, and finally treatment of nails contaminated with the oil through the proposed model.
Cinnamaldehyde is the main compound in the essential oil of cinnamon (Cinnamomum cassia) with antimicrobial activity that has already been demonstrated by the LPBiotec-IFMA Research Group (Laboratory of Research and Studies in Microbiology and Biotechnology) and one of the research lines of the group is the “Bioprobe plant and microbial’. The product developed during the research could become a possible alternative for the treatment of fungal infections.
Nayara participates in the innovation project “BIOPRODUCTS BASED ON CINNAMALDEHYDE FOR TREATMENT OF FUNGAL LINFETIONS: In vitro tests”, supported by CNPq and IFMA-MTC and has already been awarded 1st Place Award in the Planet Innovation – PIBITI-ES category from IFMA.
Student Nayara and Professor Cristina de Andrade Monteiro are also members of the research group “LPBiotec-IFMA (Laboratory of Research and Studies in Microbiology and Biotechnology).
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