Jakeline L Corrêa1, Flavia F Veiga1, Isabele C Jarros1, Maiara Ignacio Costa2, Pamella F Castilho3, Kelly Mari P de Oliveira4, Hélen Cássia Rosseto5, Marcos L Bruschi5, Terezinha I E Svidzinski1, Melyssa Negri6. 1. Medical Mycology Laboratory, Department of Clinical Analysis and Biomedicine, State University of Maringá, Colombo Avenue, 5790, Maringá, PR, Brazil; Graduate Program in Health Sciences, State University of Maringá, Colombo Avenue, 5790, Maringá, PR, Brazil. 2. Medical Mycology Laboratory, Department of Clinical Analysis and Biomedicine, State University of Maringá, Colombo Avenue, 5790, Maringá, PR, Brazil. 3. Applied Microbiology Laboratory, Faculty of Health Sciences, Federal University of Grande Dourados, Street João Rosa Góes, 1761, Dourados, MS, Brazil. 4. Applied Microbiology Laboratory, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Federal University of Grande Dourados, Street João Rosa Góes, 1761, Dourados, MS, Brazil. 5. Laboratory of Research and Development of Drug Delivery Systems, Department of Pharmacy, State University of Maringá, Colombo Avenue, 5790, Maringá, PR, Brazil. 6. Medical Mycology Laboratory, Department of Clinical Analysis and Biomedicine, State University of Maringá, Colombo Avenue, 5790, Maringá, PR, Brazil; Graduate Program in Health Sciences, State University of Maringá, Colombo Avenue, 5790, Maringá, PR, Brazil. Electronic address: melyssa.negri@pq.cnpq.br.
Abstract
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The use of natural products such as propolis extract (PE) is a promising alternative when topically administered to replace conventional antifungals, mostly due to its therapeutic applications, ease of access and low toxicity. However, despite being the subject of several mycology studies, they focus primarily on exploiting their antimicrobial activity, lacking information on the mechanisms of action of PE on Candida spp., characterizing its antifungal potential. AIM OF THE STUDY: To elucidate the bioactivity of PE on the cellular structure of Candida albicans. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of seven C. albicans clinical isolates plus a reference strain of C. albicans ATCC 90028 were used in this study. The PE was characterized and its effect on C. albicans was determined by susceptibility and growth kinetics assays; interference on C. albicans germination and filamentation; evaluation of the integrity of the C. albicans cell wall and membrane, as well as its mutagenic potential. RESULTS: The PE presented strong inhibitory activity, which showed its greatest antifungal activity at 12 h with dose and time dependent fungistatic characteristics, effectively inhibiting and interfering on C. albicans filamentation. In addition, PE caused membrane and cell wall damage with intracellular content extravasation. Moreover, PE was not mutagenic. CONCLUSIONS: The bioactivity of PE is mainly related to the loss of integrity membrane as well as the integrity of the cell wall and consequent increase in permeability, without mutagenic effects.
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The use of natural products such as propolis extract (PE) is a promising alternative when topically administered to replace conventional antifungals, mostly due to its therapeutic applications, ease of access and low toxicity. However, despite being the subject of several mycology studies, they focus primarily on exploiting their antimicrobial activity, lacking information on the mechanisms of action of PE on Candida spp., characterizing its antifungal potential. AIM OF THE STUDY: To elucidate the bioactivity of PE on the cellular structure of Candida albicans. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of seven C. albicans clinical isolates plus a reference strain of C. albicans ATCC 90028 were used in this study. The PE was characterized and its effect on C. albicans was determined by susceptibility and growth kinetics assays; interference on C. albicans germination and filamentation; evaluation of the integrity of the C. albicans cell wall and membrane, as well as its mutagenic potential. RESULTS: The PE presented strong inhibitory activity, which showed its greatest antifungal activity at 12 h with dose and time dependent fungistatic characteristics, effectively inhibiting and interfering on C. albicans filamentation. In addition, PE caused membrane and cell wall damage with intracellular content extravasation. Moreover, PE was not mutagenic. CONCLUSIONS: The bioactivity of PE is mainly related to the loss of integrity membrane as well as the integrity of the cell wall and consequent increase in permeability, without mutagenic effects.
Authors: Zsigmond Papp; Sarra Bouchelaghem; András Szekeres; Réka Meszéna; Zoltán Gyöngyi; Gábor Papp Journal: Sensors (Basel) Date: 2021-03-27 Impact factor: 3.576