Department of Biotechnology, Alagappa University, Karaikudi, India.
Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2022 Jan 19;11:780545. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2021.780545. eCollection 2021.
The incidence of fungal infections has significantly increased in recent years due to the emergence of antifungal resistance. Biofilm formation is considered to be a major contributor to both the infectious diseases and to antimicrobial resistance. Consequently, biofilm-associated infections are often problematic to treat with existing therapeutics. Adhesion of to the host surface or implanted materials followed by hyphal invasion and biofilm formation enhances pathogenicity and virulence. Thus, developing a therapeutic agent that inhibits candidal adherence, biofilm development and morphological switching could improve clinical management of infections. The present investigation studied two emerging and alternatives strategies, namely antibiofilm and combinatorial approach, to attenuate biofilm formation and the expression of virulence factors. Piperine and thymol are major bioactive components of pepper and thyme, respectively. These phytochemicals are known to possess numerous biological activities, including recently reported antibiofilm effects against . The minimum biofilm inhibitory concentration (MBIC) of both phytochemicals was determined to be 32 µg/ml. The phytochemical treatment of biofilms using piperine and thymol revealed synergistic effects at four different combinations of concentrations, i.e. 8 and 8, 8 and 4, 8 and 2 and 4 and 8 µg/ml. These synergistic combinations resulted in the significant reduction in adherence of , hyphal extension and morphological transformation. Moreover, limited exposure of synergistic combinations controlled the hyphal elongation. Results were validated through the gene expression analysis. Results from the present investigation suggest that piperine and thymol can be synergistically employed for the treatment of biofilm-associated infection.
近年来，由于抗真菌药物耐药性的出现，真菌感染的发病率显著增加。生物膜的形成被认为是导致传染病和抗菌药物耐药性的主要因素。因此，现有的治疗方法往往难以治疗与生物膜相关的感染。与宿主表面或植入材料的黏附，随后菌丝入侵和生物膜的形成，增强了 的致病性和毒力。因此，开发一种抑制真菌黏附、生物膜形成和形态转换的治疗剂，可以改善感染的临床管理。本研究探讨了两种新兴的替代策略，即抗生物膜和组合方法，以减轻生物膜的形成和表达 毒力因子。胡椒碱和百里香酚分别是辣椒和百里香的主要生物活性成分。这些植物化学物质具有多种生物学活性，包括最近报道的抗 生物膜作用。两种植物化学物质的最低生物膜抑制浓度（MBIC）均为 32 µg/ml。用胡椒碱和百里香酚处理 生物膜，在四种不同浓度组合（8 和 8、8 和 4、8 和 2 和 4 和 8 µg/ml）下显示出协同作用。这些协同组合导致 的黏附、菌丝延伸和形态转化显著减少。此外，协同组合的有限暴露控制了菌丝的伸长。通过基因表达分析验证了结果。本研究结果表明，胡椒碱和百里香酚可以协同用于治疗与生物膜相关的 感染。
