Anti-Candida Properties of Gossypium hirsutum L.: Enhancement of Fungal Growth, Biofilm Production and Antifungal Resistance.

(1) Background: Candida is a genus of yeasts with notable pathogenicity and significant ability to develop antimicrobial resistance. Gossypium hirsutum L., a medicinal plant that is traditionally used due to its antimicrobial properties, has demonstrated significant antifungal activity. Therefore, this study investigated the chemical composition and anti-Candida effects of aqueous (AELG) and hydroethanolic (HELG) extracts obtained from the leaves of this plant. (2) Methods: The extracts were chemically characterized by UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS, and their anti-Candida activities were investigated by analyzing cell viability, biofilm production, morphological transition, and enhancement of antifungal resistance. (3) Results: The UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS analysis revealed the presence of twenty-one compounds in both AELG and HELG, highlighting the predominance of flavonoids. The combination of the extracts with fluconazole significantly reduced its IC50 values against Candida albicans INCQS 40006, Candida tropicalis INCQS 40042, and C. tropicalis URM 4262 strains, indicating enhanced antifungal activity. About biofilm production, significant inhibition was observed only for the AELG-treated C. tropicalis URM 4262 strain in comparison with the untreated control. Accordingly, this extract showed more significant inhibitory effects on the morphological transition of the INCQS 40006 and URM 4387 strains of C. albicans (4) Conclusions: Gossypium hirsutum L. presents promising antifungal effects, that may be potentially linked to the combined activity of chemical constituents identified in its extracts.

Use of the natural products from the leaves of the fruitfull tree Persea americana against Candida sp. biofilms using acrylic resin discs.

The search for natural substances such as plant extracts with antimicrobial properties has considerably increased, given that biofilms constitute a barrier against antifungal therapy, where these can be formed on any surface, such as acrylic resin prosthesis. The objective of this study was to identify the chemical composition of the Persea americana Mill. leaf ethanol extract (EEFPa) using the UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS technique, to verify its antifungal activity through a sensitivity test according to the conditions described in the documents in M27-A3 (CLSI, 2008) and M60 (CLSI, 2017), to induce biofilm formation in acrylic resin discs and quantify their formation using tetrazolium salt reduction (MTT), as well as to treat these with the extract and fluconazole. Ten of the twelve compounds present in the extract were identified. In the sensitivity test the lowest minimum inhibitory concentration observed was 512 µg/mL, while fluconazole concentrations ranged from 64 to 1 µg/mL. During biofilm induction, all the isolates were able to form biofilms within 48 h. During biofilm treatment, the extract was less effective at biofilm reduction than Fluconazole. The EEFPa showed significant antifungal activity against some of the strains in this study, however the extract showed lower effect when compared to fluconazole against the biofilm formation.

Invasive infection in an acute myeloblastic leukemia patient due to triazole-resistant Candida tropicalis.

Non-albicans Candida species are being increasingly reported as causes of nosocomial fungal infections. For example, invasive candidiasis caused by C. tropicalis has been associated with hematologic malignancies. In this study, we report a fatal case of fungemia and a possible urinary and pulmonary infection in a leukemia patient that was due to a strain of C. tropicalis resistant to 2 triazole antifungals.