Histatin 5 and human lactoferrin inhibit biofilm formation of a fluconazole resistant Candida albicans clinical isolate

Abstract

Candida albicans is the most important fungal pathogen that causes infections in humans. Biofilms are hard-to-treat structures due to their high antifungal resistance. Saliva is a fluid that contains antimicrobial substances acting as the first-line of defense against pathogens, and its immune components may be potential tools for the discovery of new treatments against candidiasis. To evaluate the activity of histatin 5 and human lactoferrin against biofilm formation. A fluconazole-resistant Candida albicans clinical isolate was used as the model microorganism. Morphogenesis was evaluated by differential counting. Biofilm quantification was performed by XTT reduction assay. Thickness and topography of biofilms were assessed through confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). Histatin 5 inhibited yeastto-hyphae transition in a dose-dependent manner, while the effect of human lactoferrin on this process was inversely proportional to its concentration. Both compounds were able to significantly inhibit biofilm metabolic activity. Histatin 5 reduced biofilm thickness. Histatin 5 and human lactoferrin exhibited in vitro cytotoxicity against a fluconazole-resistant Candida albicans biofilm, which points to the potential application of these compounds in the treatment of biofilms formed by this fungus, especially in resistant infections.

Characterization of Aspergillus nidulans Biofilm Formation and Structure and Their Inhibition by Pea Defensin Psd2

“…To quantify the biofilm formation over time, we used complementary assays, including XTT-reduction, crystal violet, and optical density. XTT-reduction assay is often used to quantify C. albicans (Silva et al, 2008;Lohse et al, 2017;Curvelo et al, 2019), A. fumigatus (Seidler et al, 2008;Mowat et al, 2009), Scedosporium spp. (Rollin-Pinheiro et al, 2017;Mello et al, 2018;Rollin-Pinheiro et al, 2019) and Cryptococcus spp.…”

Spectrophotometric Analysis of Streptococcus mutans Growth and Biofilm Formation in Saliva and Histatin-5 Relate to pH and Viscosity

“…As a comparison, histatin-5 was also able to prevent the transition of blastospore hyphae of C.albicans and also contributes to reducing biofilm thickness. Combined histatin-5 and lactoferrin saliva has shown in vitro cytotoxicity against Candida albicans biofilm [30].…”

Cross-kingdom microbial interactions in dental implant-related infections: is Candida albicans a new villain?

“…The latter presented significantly lower Candida adhesion ( do Nascimento et al., 2013 ), which may be explained by the composition of initial saliva protein adhesion, as shown by others ( Yoshida and Hayakawa, 2016 ). The salivary protein lactoferrin (protein with antimicrobial and antifungal activity against a range of pathogens) ( Curvelo et al., 2019 ) has a better binding to zirconia and PMMA surfaces than to titanium and stainless steel surfaces, possibly explaining why fungal biofilm grows better on titanium and stainless steel surfaces.…”