Effects of amphotericin B on glucose metabolism in Candida albicans blastospores evidenced by 13C NMR.

Candida albicans blastospores harvested from 8- (exponential phase) or 48-h (stationary phase) cultures were incubated with 60 x 10(-3)M [1-(13)C]glucose with or without 10(-4)M amphotericin B (AmB). The utilization of [1-(13)C]glucose was monitored by in vivo 13C NMR under anaerobiosis. With exponential phase cells, in the presence of AmB, the consumption of glucose and the production of ethanol, trehalose, and glycerol continuously decreased with time, and after 25 min, the metabolism was blocked. On stationary phase cells AmB had almost no effect on glucose metabolism. Comparison with previous experiments evidenced that AmB induced first K+ leakage, then acidification, and finally a stop of the metabolism. In parallel, in vitro 13C NMR spectra were performed on supernatants and cell-free extracts of yeast suspension incubated under the same conditions. For both exponential and stationary phase cells, AmB induced an increase in the membrane permeability to glycerol; no change was observed for the other metabolites.