Allicin enhances the oxidative damage effect of amphotericin B against Candida albicans.

Allicin enhances the oxidative damage effect of amphotericin B against Candida albicans.

An M, Shen H, Cao Y, Zhang J, Cai Y, Wang R, Jiang Y.
Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Chinese People’s Liberation Army General Hospital, 28 Fuxing Road, Beijing 100853, PR China.

Amphotericin B (AmB) is the gold standard of antifungal treatment for the most severe invasive mycoses. In addition to the interaction of AmB with ergosterol in the fungi cell membrane, several studies have demonstrated oxidative damage involved in the fungicidal activity of AmB. In this study, allicin, an allyl sulphur compound from garlic, was shown to enhance significantly the effect of AmB against Candida albicans in vitro and in vivo, although allicin did not exert a fungicidal effect.

Further study first demonstrated that allicin-mediated oxidative damage, such as phospholipid peroxidation in the plasma membrane, via influencing the defence of C. albicans against oxidative damage may be the cause of the synergistic interaction between allicin and AmB.

We envision that a combination of AmB with allicin may prove to be a promising strategy for the therapy of disseminated candidiasis.

Elsevier/ScienceDirect

Strong drug to treat fungal infections

Found: strong drug to treat fungal infections

London, Dec 18 (IANS) Researchers have found that the drug Voriconazole to be highly effective against fungal infections caused by AIDS, cancer treatment or organ replacement, according to a new study.

Voriconazole is an antifungal agent approved for treatment of a broad range of fungal infections, including those caused by Candida species.

Fungal infections can kill people with weakened immune systems, which can be caused by AIDS, cancer treatment or organ replacement.

The research reinforces earlier findings that this drug is a potent treatment for a wide range of these infections.

The study authors, from Britain, the US and New Zealand, analysed susceptibility data for the yeasts isolated from patients taking part in the Voriconazole phase III clinical trials.

The aim was to compare the effectiveness of Voriconazole with other agents, by studying the yeasts’ response to these antifungal agents in vitro, and also to check for resistance to Voriconazole.

The researchers analysed the effect of Itraconazole, Fluconazole, Amphotericin B and Voriconazole versus 1,763 yeasts isolated from samples obtained from 472 patients, according to an Elsevier release.

The authors conclude that “Voriconazole exhibits high potency against a wide range of yeast species. It is notably more active than Fluconazole in terms of both potency and spectrum, but shows similar activity to Itraconazole against most yeasts.”

They also note that the activity of the agent in vitro (test tube) may help predict the response of patients to treatment.

These findings are scheduled for publication in the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents, published by Elsevier.

Mangalorean News