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

Abstract

(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.

Histopathological Alterations in Gills, Liver and Kidney of African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus, Burchell 1822) Exposed to Melaleuca cajuputi Extract

“…Terpenes such as caryophyllene oxide (2.07%), 1H-imidazole, 4,5-diphenyl-18.60%, 2-isopropyl-10-methylphenanthrene (13.50%), and stigmasterol (1.02%) are among the higher peaks found in MCLE, which have also been reported previously (Noor et al 2021;Białoń et al 2019;Ukit et al 2019), however, with a slight difference in quantity, which might be influenced by several geographical factors including method of extraction, harvesting period, part of the plant used and more (Kumari et al 2014). These compounds may act synergistically or in a single compound to serve a variety of biological properties such as antibacterial (González et al 2021;Moghrovyan et al 2019), anti-inflammatory (Al-Khayri et al 2022Prado-Audelo et al 2021), antioxidant (Ivanović et al 2020;191 Amri & Hossain 2018), antifungal (Salomé-Abarca et al 2020de Lima et al 2022), and many more.…”

“…2020 ; Amri & Hossain 2018 ), antifungal ( Salomé-Abarca et al . 2020 ; de Lima et al . 2022 ), and many more.…”