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Antifungal Activity of the Volatiles of High Potency Cannabis sativa L. Against Cryptococcus neoformans

Amira S. Wanas, Mohammed M. Radwan, Zlatko Mehmedic, Melissa Jacob, Iklas A. Khan and Mahmoud A. Elsohly

National Center for Natural Products Research, School of Pharmacy, The University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA

Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Minia University, Minia, Egypt

Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt

Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, The University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA

Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, The University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA

Abstract: The n-hexane extracted volatile fraction of high potency Cannabis sativa L (Cannabaceae) . was assessed in vitro for antifungal, antibacterial and antileishmanial activities. The oil exhibited selective albeit modest, antifungal activity against Cryptococcus neoformans with an IC 50 value of 33.1 µg/mL. Biologically-guided fractionation of the volatile fraction resulted in the isolation of three major compounds (1-3) using various chromatographic techniques. The chemical structures of the isolated compounds were identified as α-humulene (1), b -caryophyllene (2) and caryophyllene oxide (3) using GC/FID, GC/MS, 1D- and 2D-NMR analyses, respectively. Compound 1 showed potent and selective antifungal activity against Cryptococcus neoformans with IC 50 and MIC values of 1.18 m g/mL and 5.0 m g/mL respectively. Whereas compound 2 showed weak activity (IC 50 19.4 µg/mL), while compound 3 was inactive against C. neoformans.

Keywords: Volatile fraction; Cannabis sativa; antifungal; Cryptococcus neoformans; α-humulene. © 2015 ACG Publications. All rights reserved.