Antifungal Activity of ZnO Nanoparticles and Nystatin and Downregulation of SAP1-3 Genes Expression in Fluconazole-Resistant Isolates from Vulvovaginal Candidiasis.

PURPOSE

Antifungal resistance and virulence properties of ( are growing health problems worldwide. The present study aims to investigate the effect of Zinc Oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles and Nystatin on SAP1-3 genes expression in isolates of females with Vulvovaginal Candidiasis (VVC) isolated from Sayad Shirazi Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital in Northeastern Iran during 2017-2018.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

In this descriptive-analytic study, vaginal samples were collected from 280 VVC women. 196 (70%) of isolates were identified by phenotypic and ITS genotypic methods. Susceptibility to Fluconazole isolates was determined by the disk diffusion method. Detection of ERG11 gene was done by RT-PCR technique.

RESULTS

It was revealed that PCR amplified the ERG11 gene in all of the Fluconazole-resistant isolates. Real-time PCR was used to survey the effects of 3±1.7µg/mL concentrations of ZnO nanoparticles and Nystatin on expression of SAP1-3 genes before and after treatment. 186 (95%) susceptible and 10 (5%) Fluconazole-resistant isolates from VVC were exposed to sub-minimum inhibitory concentrations (Sub-MIC) of ZnO-np (range=0.02-12 μg/mL). Sub-MIC concentration was used for each strain, which reduced the expression of SAP1-3 genes to 1.8 MIC in the vaginal swabs. The observed reduction in gene expression was significant for both ZnO nanoparticles and Nystatin (P=0.01 and P=0.07, respectively).

CONCLUSION

ZnO as antifungal agent can well reduce the growth and gene expression of SAP1-3 in the pathogenesis of VVC.