Antifungal Effects

In the present work, a medicated antifungal nail lacquer had been
developed. The formulation objective was to provide a sustained
release of antifungal over extended period of time, so as to reduce
frequency of administration, improve clinical efficacy and
improve the patient compliance. The nail lacquer formulation was
prepared by simple mixing and analyzed for non volatile content,
gloss, smoothness to flow, drug diffusion studies, drug content
estimation, anti microbial studies. Among all formulation, nail
lacquer prepared with 2% drug, 3% nitrocellulose, 0.5% ethyl
cellulose, 20% salicylic acid, 5% propylene glycol and 5% urea in
H2O2 exhibited good non volatile content, gloss, smoothness to
flow, drug release, drug content estimation and antifungal activity.
The drug release could be extended up to 48 hr and a complete
release of 96.03% was observed. FTIR studies revealed that drug
and excipients are compatible. Stability study of selected
optimized formulation was done as per ICH guidelines for 1
month, which revealed that no significant change with respect to
the evaluations conducted before stability charging. The inhibitory
zones for the nail lacquer were evaluated by testing against the
Candida albicans on Sabouraud’s Dextrose Agar. The effective
zones of inhibitions suggested miconazole nail lacquer exhibiting
moderate antifungal activity for the onchomycosis treatment.

Catharanthus roseus is well known for its pharmacological significance. The present study aims to determine the antifungal activity of Catharanthus roseus against various clinically significant fungal strains (Candida albicans, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus niger, Fusarium moniliforme). Assessment of antifungal activity of Catharanthus roseus was done by paper disc diffusion method. In this study, three extraction media (Ethanol, Acetone, and Aqueous) were used. Data depicts that the pattern of inhibition largely depend upon extraction solvent. Organic extracts provided more potent antifungal activity as compared to aqueous extracts. Leaves of Catharanthus roseus showed significant inhibition. Leaves of Catharanthus roseus showed excellent activity against Fusarium moniliforme in ethanolic extracts. Literature survey had not reflected any activity of Catharanthus roseus against Fusarium moniliforme therefore; antifungal activity of Catharanthus roseus against Fusarium moniliforme is reported for the first time. MIC of the extract against the tested fungal strains ranges between 25µg/µl to 50 µg/µl.

The incidence of Candida infections is escalating worldwide. The serious nature of these infections is compounded by increasing levels of drug resistance. We report that certain honeys have significant antifungal activity against clinical isolates of Candida species. Importantly, the minimum inhibitory concentration of these honeys would be achievable in a clinical setting.

Mycotoxin contamination in foods and feeds poses serious health hazard to humans and animals. Aflatoxins, which are mutagenic, carcinogenic, teratogenic, hepatotoxic and immunosuppressive, could be produced by certain strains of Aspergillus parasiticus, A. nominus and A. flavus. An aim of this study was to examine the antifungal activity of various essential oils(EOs) obtained fromM. longifolia, Nepeta asterotricha, Ziziphora clinopodioides, Ferula assa-foetida and Heracleum persicum against A. flavus. Comparing the effect of EOs obtained from five plant species mentioned above showed that at 2000 ppm concentration all EOs tested were capable of inhibiting mycelia growth of A. flavus ranging from 100% to 18%. The highest and lowest levels of antifungal effect were obtained using M. longifolia and Heracleum persicum, respectively.Gas chromatography (GC) and GC-mass spectrometry analyses were applied to determine the constituents of M. Longifolia oil, as the most effective EO in suppressing A. flavus growth. Obtained data indicated that the main compounds of this EO were limonene (1.7%), 1,8-cineole (2.2%), 1-borneol (1%), isopiperitenone (1.3%), piperitenone (18.7%) and piperitenone oxide (70%). Spore germination of A. flavus was completely inhibited by IC50 and MIC concentrations of M. longifolia EO. Whereas, these concentrations of the EO had no inhibitory effect on sporulation of the fungus. Morphological changes of A. flavus via application of M. longifolia EO at IC50 concentration were compared with control and considerable alterations in the hyphae and conidiophores of treated samples were observed. Aflatoxin production by A. flavus significantly decreased at MIC concentration of M. longifolia EO compared to control. Only aflatoxin B1 was detected at low concentration using the MIC level of this EO. So, the EO obtained from M. longifolia might be used as a biological agent to decrease mycelial growth and aflatoxin production of A. flavus for protecting crops from this toxigenic fungus.

BACKGROUND: Cellular prion-related protein (PrP(c)) is a cell-surface protein that is ubiquitously expressed in the human body. The multifunctionality of PrP(c), and presence of an exposed cationic and heparin-binding N-terminus, a feature characterizing many antimicrobial peptides, made us hypothesize that PrP(c) could exert antimicrobial activity. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Intact recombinant PrP exerted antibacterial and antifungal effects at normal and low pH. Studies employing recombinant PrP and N- and C-terminally truncated variants, as well as overlapping peptide 20mers, demonstrated that the antimicrobial activity is mediated by the unstructured N-terminal part of the protein. Synthetic peptides of the N-terminus of PrP killed the Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and the Gram-positive Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus, as well as the fungus Candida parapsilosis. Fluorescence studies of peptide-treated bacteria, paired with analysis of peptide effects on liposomes, showed that the peptides exerted membrane-breaking effects similar to those seen after treatment with the "classical" human antimicrobial peptide LL-37. In contrast to LL-37, however, no marked helix induction was detected for the PrP-derived peptides in presence of negatively charged (bacteria-mimicking) liposomes. PrP furthermore showed an inducible expression during wounding of human skin ex vivo and in vivo, as well as stimulation of keratinocytes with TGF-alpha in vitro. CONCLUSIONS: The demonstration of an antimicrobial activity of PrP, localisation of its activity to the N-terminal and heparin-binding region, combined with results showing an increased expression of PrP during wounding, indicate that PrPs could have a previously undisclosed role in host defense.

The incidence of Candida infections is escalating worldwide. The serious nature of these infections is compounded by increasing levels of drug resistance. We report that certain honeys have significant antifungal activity against clinical isolates of Candida species. Importantly, the minimum inhibitory concentration of these honeys would be achievable in a clinical setting.

The present work was undertaken to evaluate the antifungal potential of ZnO and Fe2O3 nanoparticles in comparison with some commercial antifungal feed additives (probiotic, propionic acid and clove oil) in inhibiting the growth of A. flavus strains that were isolated from feeds using well and disc diffusion tests. The aflatoxigenic strains required higher concentration of metal nanoparticles than nonaflatoxigenic strains where the zone diameter of growth inhibition increased when the concentration increased and it was larger in non-aflatoxigenic than aflatoxigenic strains. The concentrations of metal nanoparticles below 25 ug/ml didn't affect the growth of all A. flavus strains. The zones of inhibition produced by the metal nanoparticles were larger than that produced by the commercial antifungal feed additives. The aflatoxin B1 production by aflatoxigenic strains in liquid medium (YES) or on yellow corn was significantly diminished in parallel with the decline parameters in col...

Background: The widespread consumption of industrial fermented products instead of traditional products leads to the loss of various lactic acid bacteria (LAB), especially the strains producing bioactive compounds. The present study aimed to isolate and molecularly identify LAB and investigate their antifungal impact on Aspergillus niger growth.