Antifungal activity study of the monoterpene thymol against Cryptococcus neoformans

Abstract

Cryptococcus neoformans is a yeast fungus, which causes cryptococcosis, triggered by basidiospore inhalation and consequent dissemination to the central nervous system. In this study, we analyzed the antifungal action of thymol against 10 clinical strains of C. neoformans and analyzed the interaction of this monoterpene with sterols. The MICs of thymol ranged from 20 to 51?μg/ml, while the MFC values varied between 40 and 101?μg/ml. For the strains ICB-2601 and LM-39, in the presence of ergosterol, the MIC of thymol was 64?μg/ml, and in the presence of cholesterol, its MIC was 32?μg/ml. Based on the results, thymol presents antifungal action and seems to interact with ergosterol, but not with cholesterol. Complementary studies are needed to analyze its full effects.     

Antifungal activity of Annona coriacea Mart. ethanol extracts against the aetiological agents of cryptococcosis

Cryptococcosis is an opportunistic disease with a worldwide distribution. This disease is caused by fungi of the genus Cryptococcus, and its treatment is limited to several antifungals. In this study, the antifungal, cytotoxic and mutagenic properties of ethanol extracts from the bark and leaves of Annona coriacea were evaluated against the standard Cryptococcus species and clinical yeast specimens. Both extracts of A. coriacea showed inhibitory activity of 1.5 mg/mL for all of the yeasts tested. The number of viable cells at the lowest tested concentration was 0.187 mg/mL. The extracts that were tested showed inhibitory activity and reduced the fungal growth of the Cryptococcus gattii species and Cryptococcus neoformans species complexes, suggesting that this plant may be an effective alternative treatment for cryptococcosis.     

Fungicidal Activity of Recombinant Javanicin against Cryptococcus neoformans Is Associated with Intracellular Target(s) Involved in Carbohydrate and Energy Metabolic Processes

The occurrence of Cryptococcus neoformans, the human fungal pathogen that primarily infects immunocompromised individuals, has been progressing at an alarming rate. The increased incidence of infection of C. neoformans with antifungal drugs resistance has become a global concern. Potential antifungal agents with extremely low toxicity are urgently needed. Herein, the biological activities of recombinant javanicin (r-javanicin) against C. neoformans were evaluated. A time-killing assay was performed and both concentration- and time-dependent antifungal activity of r-javanicin were indicated. The inhibitory effect of the peptide was initially observed at 4 h post-treatment and ultimately eradicated within 36 to 48 h. Fungal outer surface alteration was characterized by the scanning electron microscope (SEM) whereas a negligible change with slight shrinkage of external morphology was observed in r-javanicin treated cells. Confocal laser scanning microscopic analysis implied that the target(s) of r-javanicin is conceivably resided in the cell thereby allowing the peptide to penetrate across the membrane and accumulate throughout the fungal body. Finally, cryptococcal cells coped with r-javanicin were preliminarily investigated using label-free mass spectrometry-based proteomics. Combined with microscopic and proteomics analysis, it was clearly elucidated the peptide localized in the intracellular compartment where carbohydrate metabolism and energy production associated with glycolysis pathway and mitochondrial respiration, respectively, were principally interfered. Overall, r-javanicin would be an alternative candidate for further development of antifungal agents.     

Facile Synthesis of the Pentasaccharide Repeating Unit of the Exopolysaccharide from Cryptococcus neoformans Serotype D

β‐D ‐GlcpA‐(1→2)‐[β‐D ‐Xylp‐(1→2)‐α‐D ‐Manp‐(1→3)]‐α‐D ‐Manp‐(1→3)‐α‐D ‐Manp, the repeating unit of the exopolysaccharide from Cryptococcus neoformans serotype D, was synthesized as its 4‐methoxyphenyl glycoside. The approach presented here also provides a route to the synthesis of more complex repeating units of glucuconoxylomannan (GXM) of C. neoformans serotypes A–C.     

In Vitro Antifungal Activity and Mechanism of Ag3PW12O40 Composites against Candida Species

Fungal infections pose a serious threat to human health. Polyoxometalates (POMs) are metal–oxygen clusters with potential application in the control of microbial infections. Herein, the Ag₃PW₁₂O₄₀ composites have been synthesized and verified by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrum, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), elemental analysis, and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The antifungal activities of Ag₃PW₁₂O₄₀ were screened in 19 Candida species strains through the determination of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) by the microdilution checkerboard technique. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC₅₀) values of Ag₃PW₁₂O₄₀ are 2~32 μg/mL to the Candida species. The MIC₈₀ value of Ag₃PW₁₂O₄₀ to resistant clinical isolates C. albicans HL963 is 8 μg/mL, which is lower than the positive control, fluconazole (FLC). The mechanism against C. albicans HL963 results show that Ag₃PW₁₂O₄₀ can decrease the ergosterol content. The expressions of ERG1, ERG7, and ERG11, which impact on the synthesis of ergosterol, are all prominently upregulated by Ag₃PW₁₂O₄₀. It indicates that Ag₃PW₁₂O₄₀ is a candidate in the development of new antifungal agents.     

Evaluating the Antifungal Potential of Botanical Compounds to Control Botryotinia fuckeliana and Rhizoctonia solani

The European Union is promoting regulatory changes to ban fungicides because of the impact their use has on the ecosystem and the adverse effects they can pose for humans. An ecofriendly alternative to these chemicals to fight against fungal species with low toxicity is essential oils and their compounds extracted from aromatic plants. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the in vitro antifungal capacity of the botanical compounds eugenol, carvacrol, thymol, and cinnamaldehyde, and the synergy or antagonism of their mixtures, against Botryotinia fuckeliana and Rhizoctonia solani. Different bioassays were performed at doses of 300, 200, 150, and 100 µg/mL using pure commercial compounds and their combination in potato dextrose agar culture medium. Growth rate and the mycelium growth inhibition parameters were calculated. Phenolic compounds and their combination inhibited the development of species at the different concentrations, with fungicidal or fungistatic activity shown under almost all the tested conditions. When comparing the growth rates of the species in the control plates and treatments, the statistical analysis showed that there were statistically significant differences. The mixture of compounds improved fungicidal activity against the studied species and at a lower concentration of monoterpenes.     

含嘧啶氨基的三取代三嗪衍生物的合成及其抗菌、抗肿瘤活性研究

以三聚氯氰为起始原料,合成了系列新的含嘧啶氨基的2,4,6-三取代-1,3,5-三嗪化合物,并测试了化合物抗苹果树腐烂病菌和抑制肿瘤细胞增殖活性.结果表明,化合物2aa～2cb及3aa～3cb对苹果树腐烂病菌具有显著的抑制作用,具有开发为新型植物抗菌剂的潜力.部分化合物,如4ba和4ca分别对胃癌(BGC-823)和宫颈癌(Hela)肿瘤细胞具有较强的抑制活性,IC50分别为10.9和11.3μmol/L.     

芳基肼衍生物的设计、合成及其抑菌活性研究

为了探索具有较高潜力的新型植物病原真菌抑制剂,本文以取代芳胺、3,3-二甲基-2-丁酮和乙酸乙酯为起始原料,采用Claisen缩合、氯代、重氮化、亲核取代等反应合成了16个新型的芳基肼类衍生物(4a～4p),其结构经~1H NMR、~(13)C NMR及ESI-MS确证。初步抑菌活性测试结果表明,目标化合物4d、4g和4j具有潜在的广谱性抑菌作用,其对9种植物病原真菌的平均抑制率分别为64.7%、71.2%和67.8%,显著优于阳性对照药物噁霉灵(50.1%)和百菌清(60.0%)。构效关系研究表明,保持羰基α位氯原子不变,在芳基肼结构中引入甲基、氯、氟、三氟甲氧基等基团能有效提高其抑菌作用。此研究为基于芳基肼骨架的农用抑菌剂结构优化提供了参考。     

Antifungal Activities of cis-trans Citral Isomers against Trichophyton rubrum with ERG6 as a Potential Target

Trichophyton rubrum causes ringworm worldwide. Citral (CIT), extracted from Pectis plants, is a monoterpene and naturally composed of geometric isomers neral (cis-citral) and geranial (trans-citral). CIT has promising antifungal activities and ergosterol biosynthesis inhibition effects against several pathogenic fungi. However, no study has focused on neral and geranial against T. rubrum, which hinders the clinical application of CIT. This study aimed to compare antifungal activities of neral and geranial and preliminarily elucidate their ergosterol biosynthesis inhibition mechanism against T. rubrum. Herein, the disc diffusion assays, cellular leakage measurement, flow cytometry, SEM/TEM observation, sterol quantification, and sterol pattern change analyses were employed. The results showed geranial exhibited larger inhibition zones (p < 0.01 or 0.05), higher cellular leakage rates (p < 0.01), increased conidia with damaged membranes (p < 0.01) within 24 h, more distinct shriveled mycelium in SEM, prominent cellular material leakage, membrane damage, and morphological changes in TEM. Furthermore, geranial possessed more promising ergosterol biosynthesis inhibition effects than neral, and both induced the synthesis of 7-Dehydrodesmosterol and Cholesta-5,7,22,24-tetraen-3β-ol, which represented marker sterols when ERG6 was affected. These results suggest geranial is more potent than neral against T. rubrum, and both inhibit ergosterol biosynthesis by affecting ERG6.     

嘧啶类化合物的合成及抗菌活性研究进展

嘧啶类化合物因其广泛的生物活性在医药、农药等领域备受关注. 将不同基团引入嘧啶结构中, 经过结构修饰能产生一系列具有抗菌活性的嘧啶衍生物, 它在新型农药创制中发挥着越来越重要的作用. 对嘧啶类化合物的合成及杀菌活性的研究进行了分类综述, 并展望了它的发展趋势和应用前景.     

Antifungal,anti-inflamatory and neuritogenic activity of newly-isolated compounds from Disporopsis aspersa

Abstract

A new ester (1) and a terpenoid (2) were isolated from the dried whole plant of Disporopsis aspersa (H_UA) E_NGL. ex D_IELS for the first time and their structures were elucidated, as well as their biological activities are described. The two compounds all showed good antifungal activities, especially furanone (2) exhibited better antifungal activity against Pseudoperonospora cubensis and Phytophthora infestans with EC₅₀ value of 22.82, 18.90?μg/mL, respectively. Compound 1 exhibited a significant promotion on the neurite outgrowth in NGF-induced PC-12 cells, and moderate inhibition on the NO production induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in BV-2 microglial cells.     

2,3-二苯基-4-噻唑酮类衍生物的合成及抑菌活性研究

本文以取代苯甲醛、苯胺及巯基乙酸为原料,合成了一系列2,3-二苯基-4-噻唑酮类衍生物,其结构经~1H NMR和MS确证。抑菌活性试验显示,所有目标化合物表现出中等抑菌活性,其中化合物4g对苹果腐烂病菌的抑菌活性最高,能达到62.7%。构效关系研究表明在2,3-二苯基-4-噻唑酮的苯基上引入甲基能增强活性。     

氟康唑衍生物的设计合成及体外抗真菌活性研究

为了寻找活性更好的抗真菌化合物,基于已有的计算机辅助药物设计结果,保留氟康唑母体结构必需药效团,设计、合成了22个含对甲酚和胸腺嘧啶的氟康唑新衍生物.目标化合物的结构经1H NMR、元素分析和ESI-MS确证,初步体外抗真菌活性试验结果表明,化合物5l对7种真菌都表现出了较好的抗真菌活性(烟曲霉菌除外),化合物5a～5e,5g,5h,7a和7b对不同真菌表现出了一定的抗真菌活性.炔丙基取代氨基侧链结构的引入有利于提高该类目标化合物体外抗真菌活性,值得进一步深入研究.     

Design,Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Lophanic Acid Derivatives as Antifungal and Antibacterial Agents

In order to discover more promising antifungal and antibacterial agents, a series of new derivatives were designed and synthesized by structure modification based on the naturally occurring antimicrobial compound lophanic acid. The structures of all the target compounds were well characterized by spectroscopic data. The stereochemistry of these compounds was further determined through the X-ray diffraction analysis of 6a. The synthetic compounds were evaluated for their antimicrobial activities against filamentous fungi (T. rubrum, T. mentagrophytes), yeasts (C. neoformans, C. albicans) and Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria (MRSA, S. mutans, S. sobrinus, and E. coli). Among them, 3d and 3i are found as the most promising leads that showed potent inhibitory effects against all the tested fungal and bacterial strains except for E. coli. The presence of the C-20 carboxylic ester groups and the free hydroxy group at C-13 was found to be essential for the antifungal and antibacterial activities of the lophanic acid derivatives.     

Investigations into the Antifungal,Photocatalytic, and Physicochemical Properties of Sol-Gel-Produced Tin Dioxide Nanoparticles

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy were applied to evaluate the tin dioxide nanoparticles (SnO₂ NPs) amalgamated by the sol-gel process. XRD was used to examine the tetragonal-shaped crystallite with an average size of 26.95 (±1) nm, whereas the average particle size estimated from the TEM micrograph is 20.59 (±2) nm. A dose-dependent antifun3al activity was performed against two fungal species, and the activity was observed to be increased with an increase in the concentration of SnO₂ NPs. The photocatalytic activity of SnO₂ NPs in aqueous media was tested using Rhodamine 6G (Rh-6G) under solar light illumination. The Rh-6G was degraded at a rate of 0.96 × 10⁻² min for a total of 94.18 percent in 350 min.     

Antifungal,Antibacterial, and Cytotoxic Activities of Silver Nanoparticles Synthesized from Aqueous Extracts of Mace-Arils of Myristica fragrans

In the present study, mace-mediated silver nanoparticles (mace-AgNPs) were synthesized, characterized, and evaluated against an array of pathogenic microorganisms. Mace, the arils of Myristica fragrans, are a rich source of several bioactive compounds, including polyphenols and aromatic compounds. During nano synthesis, the bioactive compounds in mace aqueous extracts serve as excellent bio reductants, stabilizers, and capping agents. The UV-VIS spectroscopy of the synthesized NPs showed an intense and broad SPR absorption peak at 456 nm. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) analysis showed the size with a Z average of 50 nm, while transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies depicted the round shape and small size of the NPs, which ranged between 5–28 nm. The peaks related to important functional groups, such as phenols, alcohols, carbonyl groups, amides, alkanes and alkenes, were obtained on a Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectrum. The peak at 3 keV on the energy dispersive X-ray spectrum (EDX) validated the presence of silver (Ag). Mace-silver nanoparticles exhibited potent antifungal and antibacterial activity against several pathogenic microorganisms. Additionally, the synthesized mace-AgNPs displayed an excellent cytotoxic effect against the human cervical cancer cell line. The mace-AgNPs demonstrated robust antibacterial, antifungal, and cytotoxic activity, indicating that the mace-AgNPs might be used in the agrochemical industry, pharmaceutical industry, and biomedical applications. However, future studies to understand its mode of action are needed.     

Synthesis,Spectroscopic Studies and Antifungal Activity of O-Alkyl or O-Aryl Trithiophosphate Derivatives of Trimethylaminoborane

Abstract

In this work, we report on the synthesis, characterization, and antifungal activities of new boron derivatives of O-alkyl or O-aryl trithiophosphate of the type ROP(S)S₂[BS₂P(S)OR]₂·2NMe₃ (R = Me, Et, Prⁱ, Buⁱ, Ph, CH₂Ph). They were synthesized by the reaction of trimethylaminoborane with O-alkyl or O-aryl trithiophosphate in 2:3 molar ratio in dried and distilled benzene. The newly synthesized derivatives are light yellow viscous liquids, monomer, and soluble in common organic solvents. These compounds have been characterized by elemental analysis, molecular weight determinations, and spectroscopic (IR, ¹H, ¹¹B, and ³¹P NMR) studies which are consistent with four-coordinated boron and bidentate behavior of the trithiophosphate moiety. It is observed that when these derivatives are applied in the form of dilute solution in ethanol of various concentrations, they show their effectiveness against powdery mildew disease at a fixed interval of days.

Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Phosphorus, Sulfur, and Silicon and the Related Elements to view the free supplemental file.     

含有2,4-二卤代联苯基的新型唑类衍生物的合成及其抗真菌活性

以2,4-二卤代联苯为原料,经傅-克酰基化、还原、取代等反应步骤,合成了含有2,4-二卤代联苯基的新型唑类目标化合物3a~3k,其结构用红外光谱(IR)、高分辨质谱(HMRS)、核磁共振氢谱(¹H NMR)、核磁共振碳谱(¹³C NMR)等技术手段进行了表征。 测试了目标化合物的体外抗真菌活性,结果表明,所有目标化合物对所测试的致病真菌均有一定程度的抗真菌活性。 其中化合物3a~3k对红色发癣菌和石膏样毛癣菌的抗真菌活性和两性霉素B相当,化合物3b、3c、3e、3f、3h、3i、3k对白色念珠菌的抗真菌活性优于或等于酮康唑。     

Asymmetric Synthesis, Antifungal Activity and Molecular Modeling of Iodiconazole Isomers

Iodiconazole is a novel antifungal agent that was developed in its racemic form. In order to investigate the ef- fects of the chiral center on the antifungal activity, R- and S-isomers of iodiconazole were prepared on the basis of the asymmetric Sharpless epoxidation. （S）-Iodiconazole was proved to have better antifungal activity than the （R）- isomer. The binding modes of the two isomers with lanosterol 14~z-demethylase were clarified by molecular dock- ing.