Synergism effect of tunicamycin and amphotericin B causes suppression to the MP65 and ERG3 gene in oral associated-Candida albicans and C. dubliniensis

Abstract

Combination therapy can be used for the treatment of fungal infections, especially for those caused by antifungal-resistant fungi. In the present study, in vitro interactions and mechanisms between tunicamycin (TM) and amphotericin B (AmB) against Candida spp. were evaluated. The nature of the interactions determined by spectrophotometric method in a checkerboard assay was interpreted using nonparametric models of fractional inhibitory concentration index (FICI). We also evaluated the potential activity of TM in association with AmB on selected virulence gene (MP65 and ERG3) in C. albicans and C. dubliniensis. It was found that TM can work synergistically with AmB against C. dubliniensis; the minimum inhibitory concentration of TM and AmB decreased about fourfold, with an FICI of 0.5. The effect of combination has also significantly decreased the expression level of MP65 and ERG3 in which these genes have long been recognized as virulence traits in the pathogenicity of Candida (P ˂ 0.05). Our results suggest that the combination has the ability to reduce the growth of Candida in vitro.

Keywords

• Candida
• tunicamycin
• amphotericin B
• synergistic
• antifungal susceptibility
• MP65 and ERG3