Owing to the rise in antimicrobial
and chemotherapeutic drug resistance,
there is a desperate need to formulate newer as well as more effective
agents. With this perspective, here we outline the synthesis of two
novel gemini surfactants with different substitutions at the nitrogen
atom of the benzimidazolium ring. Both the compounds induced significant
reductions in
Candida
growth in various
yeast strains. The reduction in
Candida
growth seemed likely through the reduction in ergosterol biosynthesis:
a sterol constituent of yeast cell membranes. Different concentrations
of both compounds were used to determine the cellular ergosterol content
which indicates an important disordering of the ergosterol biosynthetic
pathway. Cytotoxic studies were carried out using HEK 293 (human embryonic-kidney
cells) and
Galleria mellonella
larvae
(an in vivo model of antimicrobial studies). Administration of both
the compounds to
G. mellonella
larvae
diseased by the yeast
Candida albicans
resulted in increased survival indicating their in vivo activity.
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