The beneficial effect of Indonesian propolis wax from Tetragonula sp. as a therapy in limited vaginal candidiasis patients

Vaginal candidiasis characterized by abnormal vaginal discharge and itching usually treated by azole's drug or nystatin; however, some results of treatment are unsatisfied and become recurrent. Propolis containing polyphenols and flavonoids is known to have anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activity. This study investigated the effect of Indonesian propolis wax from Tetragonula sp. as a therapy in limited vaginal candidiasis patients. The subjects were women who came to the Tasik Community Health Centre met the inclusion criteria such as clinical complaint and laboratory evaluation (positive hyphae/pseudohyphae and culture on Sabouraud Dextrose Agar (SDA) medium) from a vaginal swab. Evaluation of anti-candida effect of propolis was determined by clinical remission and the absence of Candida's growth on SDA medium. Forty subjects were randomly assigned to those receiving treatment by ovule propolis (n = 20) and that treatment by nystatin (n = 20) as a control, once daily, for seven days, respectively. All methods have been approved by the Ethics Commission of the Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Indonesia. Our results indicated no significant difference in the laboratory evaluation of patients who have treated ovule propolis compared to standard therapy. This study suggests that propolis wax has a beneficial effect to develop as an anti-candida agent for vaginal candidiasis therapy.