Anti-<i>Candida</i> Properties of <i>Gossypium hirsutum</i> L.: Enhancement of Fungal Growth, Biofilm Production and Antifungal Resistance

(1) Background: <i>Candida</i> is a genus of yeasts with notable pathogenicity and significant ability to develop antimicrobial resistance. <i>Gossypium hirsutum</i> L., a medicinal plant that is traditionally used due to its antimicrobial properties, has demonstrated signifi...

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Main Authors: Luciene Ferreira de Lima, Jacqueline Cosmo Andrade-Pinheiro, Maria Audilene Freitas, Adriely Idalina da Silva, Victor Juno Alencar Fonseca, Taís Gusmão da Silva, Josefa Carolaine Pereira da Silva, Rosilaine Honorato de Lima, Débora Lima Sales, Rejane Pereira Neves, Edy Sousa de Brito, Paulo Riceli Vasconcelos Ribeiro, Kirley Marques Canuto, Henrique Douglas Melo Coutinho, Abolghasem Siyadatpanah, Bonglee Kim, Maria Flaviana Bezerra Morais-Braga
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-03-01
Series:Pharmaceutics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4923/14/4/698
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Summary:(1) Background: <i>Candida</i> is a genus of yeasts with notable pathogenicity and significant ability to develop antimicrobial resistance. <i>Gossypium hirsutum</i> L., a medicinal plant that is traditionally used due to its antimicrobial properties, has demonstrated significant antifungal activity. Therefore, this study investigated the chemical composition and anti-<i>Candida</i> effects of aqueous (AELG) and hydroethanolic (HELG) extracts obtained from the leaves of this plant. (2) Methods: The extracts were chemically characterized by UPLC–QTOF-MS/MS, and their anti-<i>Candida</i> activities were investigated by analyzing cell viability, biofilm production, morphological transition, and enhancement of antifungal resistance. (3) Results: The UPLC–QTOF-MS/MS analysis revealed the presence of twenty-one compounds in both AELG and HELG, highlighting the predominance of flavonoids. The combination of the extracts with fluconazole significantly reduced its IC<sub>50</sub> values against <i>Candida albicans</i> INCQS 40006, <i>Candida tropicalis</i> INCQS 40042, and <i>C. tropicalis</i> URM 4262 strains, indicating enhanced antifungal activity. About biofilm production, significant inhibition was observed only for the AELG-treated <i>C. tropicalis</i> URM 4262 strain in comparison with the untreated control. Accordingly, this extract showed more significant inhibitory effects on the morphological transition of the INCQS 40006 and URM 4387 strains of <i>C. albicans</i> (4) Conclusions: <i>Gossypium hirsutum</i> L. presents promising antifungal effects, that may be potentially linked to the combined activity of chemical constituents identified in its extracts.
ISSN:1999-4923