Azole Based Acetohydrazide Derivatives of Cinnamaldehyde Target and Kill Candida albicans by Causing Cellular Apoptosis.

Opportunistic fungal pathogens including Candida albicans are responsible for the alarming rise in hospital acquired infections and millions of deaths worldwide. The current treatment modalities are not enough to handle this situation, and therefore, new treatment modalities and strategies are desperately needed. In this direction, we synthesized a series of azole based acetohydrazide derivatives of cinnamaldehyde and subjected it to antifungal activity evaluation. Preliminary antifungal activity evaluation revealed tremendous antifungal potential of some of the derivatives against fluconazole susceptible and resistant clinical isolates of Candida albicans. Although all the compounds in the series are structurally similar except for the presence of different substituents on the phenyl ring of the acetohydrazide pendent, they sharply differed in their activity profile. Further mechanism of action studies revealed that these compounds have an apoptotic effect on C. albicans confirmed via Annexin V-FITC staining and TUNEL assay.