Dioscin Inhibits Virulence Factors ofCandida albicans

Abstract

Candida albicans infections present a heavy burden upon public health, with only a few drugs available, while biofilms formed by C. albicans worsen this situation. Dioscin has antitumor, anti-inflammatory, and hepatoprotective effects, and this study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dioscin on the biofilm formation and development, as well as other virulence factors of C. albicans such as morphological transition, adhesion, and extracellular secreted phospholipase. Our results showed dioscin inhibits these virulence factors and has low cytotoxicity against mammalian cells. Considering protective effects of dioscin against damage on liver and kidney, dioscin may be used as a potential candidate for antifungal development.

Recent Advances in the Pharmacological Activities of Dioscin

“…The cell membrane-disruptive activity of dioscin may be due to the penetration into and accumulation in membrane lipid and the binding to ergosterol, a counterpart of cholesterol in fungal cells [41]. Recently, dioscin was found to be effective against the formation and development of C. albicans biofilms, a microbial lifestyle with complex structures and high resistance to antifungal agents [38, 42].…”

Lycorine Hydrochloride Inhibits the Virulence Traits ofCandida albicans

“…Extracellular phospholipase of C. albicans , the expression of which was increased during C. albicans infections, can break down lipids of membrane for tissue invasion, while C. albicans mutants with phospholipase defects showed attenuated virulence in murine infection models [21, 24, 39, 40]. Our results showed that LH could inhibit the production of extracellular phospholipase.…”

“…The inhibition on biofilm formation could also be confirmed by CLSI images. The inhibition on preformed biofilms was weaker than that on biofilm formation, which can also be seen with many other antifungal agents [21, 24, 26]. This may be due to the condensed networks of intertwined hyphae and the existence of extracellular matrix, which compromise the access of drugs into cells within biofilms.…”

“…The influence of LH on the adhesion capacity of C. albicans on polystyrene surfaces was evaluated by XTT reduction assay, as we described elsewhere [21]. In brief, 100 μ L of fungal cell suspension (10 6 cells/mL in 1640 medium) diluted from overnight YPD culture was transferred into each well of 96-well plates and incubated with 0, 16, 32, and 64 μ M of LH at 37°C for 1.5 h. Then, wells were washed with PBS and subjected to XTT assay.…”

The potential missing links between hepatoprotective dioscin and alcoholic liver disease

“…Despite the preclinical nature of these data, dioscin did show promising hepatoprotective effects on ALD, while published data suggest that its anti-inflammatory and anti-Candida (including anti-hyphal) activities may add to that effects. 4,5 The potential mechanisms need to be confirmed by more direct experimental evidence.…”