Anticandidal activity of curcumin and methyl cinnamaldehyde.

Cinnamaldehyde, its derivatives and curcumin are reported to have strong antifungal activity. In this work we report and compare anticandidal activity of curcumin (CUR) and α-methyl cinnamaldehyde (MCD) against 38 strains of Candida (3; standard, fluconazole sensitive, 24; clinical, fluconazole sensitive, 11; clinical, fluconazole resistant). The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC90) of CUR ranged from 250 to 650 µg/ml for sensitive strains and from 250 to 500 µg/ml for resistant strains. MIC90 of MCD varied between 100 and 250 µg/ml and 100-200 µg/ml for sensitive and resistant strains, respectively. Higher activity of MCD as compared to CUR was further reinforced by spot assays and growth curve studies. At their respective MIC90 values, in the presence of glucose, average inhibition of H+-efflux caused by CUR and MCD against standard, clinical and resistant isolates was 24%, 31%, 32% and 54%, 52%, 54%, respectively. Inhibition of H+-extrusion leads to intracellular acidification and cell death, average pHi for control, CUR and MCD exposed cells was 6.68, 6.39 and 6.20, respectively. Scanning electron micrographs of treated cells show more extensive damage in case of MCD. Haemolytic activity of CUR and MCD at their highest MIC was 11.45% and 13.00%, respectively as against 20% shown by fluconazole at typical MIC of 30 µg/ml. In conclusion, this study shows significant anticandidal activity of CUR and MCD against both azole-resistant and sensitive clinical isolates, MCD is found to be more effective.

Exposure of Candida to p-anisaldehyde inhibits its growth and ergosterol biosynthesis.

p-Anisaldehyde (4-methoxybenzaldehyde), an extract from Pimpinella anisum seeds, is a very common digestive herb of north India. Antifungal activity of p-anisaldehyde was investigated on 10 fluconazole-resistant and 5 fluconazole-sensitive Candida strains. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC(90)) ranged from 250 µg/ml to 600 µg/ml for both sensitive and resistant strains. Ergosterol content was drastically reduced by p-anisaldehyde-62% in sensitive and 66% in resistant strains-but did not corelate well with MIC(90) values. It appears that p-anisaldehyde exerts its antifungal effect by decreasing NADPH routed through up-regulation of putative aryl-alcohol dehydrogenases. Cellular toxicity of p-anisaldehyde against H9c2 rat cardiac myoblasts was less than 20% at the highest MIC value. These findings encourage further development of p-anisaldehyde.

Spice oil cinnamaldehyde exhibits potent anticandidal activity against fluconazole resistant clinical isolates.

Fluconazole resistance is becoming an important clinical concern. We studied the in vitro effects of cinnamaldehyde against 18 fluconazole-resistant Candida isolates. MIC(90) of cinnamaldehyde against different Candida isolates ranged 100-500 µg/ml. Growth and sensitivity of the organisms were significantly affected by cinnamaldehyde at different concentrations. The rapid irreversible action of this compound on fungal cells suggested membrane-located targets for its action. Insight studies to mechanism suggested that cinnamaldehyde exerts its antifungal activity by targeting sterol biosynthesis and plasma membrane ATPase activity. Inhibition of H(+) (-)ATPase leads to intracellular acidification and cell death. Toxicity against H9c2 rat cardiac myoblasts was studied to exclude the possibility of further associated cytotoxicity. The observed selectively fungicidal characteristics against fluconazole-resistant Candida isolates signify a promising candidature of this essential oil as an antifungal agent in treatments for candidosis.