Antifungal evaluation of traditional herbal monomers and their potential for inducing cell wall remodeling in Candida albicans and Candida auris

Abstract

Traditional herbal monomers (THMs) are widely distributed in many traditional Chinese formulas (TCFs) and decoctions (TCDs) and are frequently used for the prevention and treatment of fungal infections. The antifungal activities of five common THMs, including sodium houttuyfonate (SH), berberine (BER), palmatine (PAL), jatrorrhizine (JAT) and cinnamaldehyde (CIN), and their potential for inducing cell wall remodeling (CWR), were evaluated against Candida albicans SC5314 and Candida auris 12372. SH/CIN plus BER/PAL/JAT showed synergistic antifungal activity against both Candida isolates. Furthermore, SH-associated combinations (SH plus BER/PAL/JAT) induced stronger exposure of β-glucan and chitin than their counterparts, while CIN triggered more marked exposure compared with CIN-associated combinations (CIN plus BER/PAL/JAT). Collectively, this study demonstrated the anti-Candida effect and the CWR induction potential of the five THMs and their associated combinations, providing a possibility of their in vivo application against fungal-associated infections.

Keywords:

• Candida albicans
• Candida auris
• β-glucan
• chitin
• sodium houttuyfonate
• cinnamaldehyde

Disclosure statement

No conflict of interest is declared by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under grants 81603167, 81573725 and 81774034, the Outstanding Youth Key Project of Anhui Institution of Higher Education under grant gxyqZD2018054, and Discipline Construction Key Program of Anhui University of Chinese Medicine under grant DC18100042.