https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8287-1026
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ABSTRACT
Objectives
Evaluation of the antifungal properties of Tamarix nilotica fractions against Candida albicans clinical isolates.
Methods
The in vitro antifungal potential was evaluated by agar well diffusion and broth microdilution methods. The antibiofilm potential was assessed by crystal violet, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and qRT-PCR. The in vivo antifungal activity was evaluated by determining the burden in the lung tissues of infected mice, histopathological, immunohistochemical studies, and ELISA.
Results
Both the dichloromethane (DCM) and ethyl acetate (EtOAc) fractions had minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 64–256 and 128–1024 μg/mL, respectively. SEM examination showed that the DCM fraction decreased the biofilm formation capacity of the treated isolates. A significant decline in biofilm gene expression was observed in 33.33% of the DCM-treated isolates. A considerable decline in the CFU/g lung count in infected mice was observed, and histopathological examinations revealed that the DCM fraction maintained the lung tissue architecture. Immunohistochemical investigations indicated that the DCM fraction significantly (p < 0.05) decreased the expression of pro-inflammatory and inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, NF-kB, COX-2, IL-6, and IL-1β) in the immunostained lung sections. The phytochemical profiling of DCM and EtOAc fractions was performed using Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS).
Conclusion
T. nilotica DCM fraction could be a significant source of natural products with antifungal activity against C. albicans infections.
Declaration of interest
The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to thank Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Researchers Supporting Project number (PNURSP2022R304), Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Reviewer disclosures
Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.
Author contribution statement
Conceptualization, Engy Elekhnawy, Walaa A. Negm, Fatma A. Mokhtar and Omnia Momtaz Al-Fakhrany; Data curation, Reem Binsuwaidan; Formal analysis, Ehssan Moglad, Reem Binsuwaidan, Nashwah G. M. Attallah and Sameh Magdeldin; Funding acquisition, Reem Binsuwaidan; Investigation, Nashwah G. M. Attallah and Eman Ahmed; Methodology, Engy Elekhnawy, Walaa A. Negm, Fatma A. Mokhtar, Eman Ahmed, Sameh Magdeldin and Omnia Momtaz Al-Fakhrany; Project administration, Reem Binsuwaidan; Resources, Ehssan Moglad; Software, Ehssan Moglad, Nashwah G. M. Attallah, Eman Ahmed and Sameh Magdeldin; Validation, Nashwah G. M. Attallah, Eman Ahmed and Sameh Magdeldin; Writing – original draft, Engy Elekhnawy, Walaa A. Negm, Fatma A. Mokhtar and Omnia Momtaz Al-Fakhrany; Writing – review & editing, Ehssan Moglad, Engy Elekhnawy, Walaa A. Negm, Fatma A. Mokhtar and Omnia Momtaz Al-Fakhrany. All authors have read and approved the published version of the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement
The experiment was approved by the research ethics committee of the faculty of pharmacy at Tanta University, Egypt (TP/RE/10/22P–0054).
Informed consent statement
Not applicable. No patients were involved in the study.
Supplementary material
Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/14787210.2023.2232112