Biotechnology & Biotechnological Equipment (Sep 2017)
Anti-hyphal properties of potential bioactive compounds for oral rinse in suppression of Candida growth
Abstract
Most oral rinses contain active ingredients with limited antifungal activity, particularly against hyphae development. This has encouraged us to search for bioactive compounds effective against preventing morphology transition of the dimorphic Candida. The antifungal activity of the selected bioactive compounds against seven species of oral-associated Candida was screened before the evaluation of their potency to inhibit hyphal formation. The identified potent inhibitor was then further investigated on its effectiveness through a brief treatment test on germination, adhesion, cellular morphology and gene expression. Bakuchiol, hydroxychavciol and pseudolaric acid B showed antifungal activity while luteolin and sakuranetin were determined to be inactive against the oral-associated Candida species at a concentration below 1 mg/mL. Hydroxychavicol was determined as a potent inhibitor against hyphal growth of Candida albicans. Hydroxychavicol delayed the germination process of C. albicans by affecting the expression of RAS1, NRG1 and HWP1 genes up to 1 h after the treatment. In addition, the treatment caused minimal changes to the cellular morphological structure. But, hydroxychavicol showed poor anti-adherence activity against the germinated cells. In summary, hydroxychavicol is one of the identified bioactive compounds that possessed anti-candida properties against oral-associated Candida species and appeared potent in inhibition of hyphae of C. albicans by affecting its ultrastructural morphology and gene regulation. This finding could suggest development of hydroxychavicol as a bioactive compound that can potentiate the activity of oral rinse in preventing the colonization of dimorphic Candida in the oral cavity.
Keywords