ROS mediated anticandidal efficacy of 3-Bromopyruvate prevents vulvovaginal candidiasis in mice model.

Candidal infections, particularly vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC), necessitate effective therapeutic interventions in clinical settings owing to their intricate clinical nature and elusive understanding of their etiological mechanisms. Given the challenges in developing effective antifungal therapies...

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Main Authors: Ravi Jothi, Seong-Tshool Hong, Munkhtur Enkhtsatsral, Shunmugiah Karutha Pandian, Shanmugaraj Gowrishankar
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2023-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0295922&type=printable
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author Ravi Jothi
Seong-Tshool Hong
Munkhtur Enkhtsatsral
Shunmugiah Karutha Pandian
Shanmugaraj Gowrishankar
author_facet Ravi Jothi
Seong-Tshool Hong
Munkhtur Enkhtsatsral
Shunmugiah Karutha Pandian
Shanmugaraj Gowrishankar
author_sort Ravi Jothi
collection DOAJ
description Candidal infections, particularly vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC), necessitate effective therapeutic interventions in clinical settings owing to their intricate clinical nature and elusive understanding of their etiological mechanisms. Given the challenges in developing effective antifungal therapies, the strategy of repurposing existing pharmaceuticals has emerged as a promising approach to combat drug-resistant fungi. In this regard, the current study investigates molecular insights on the anti-candidal efficacy of a well-proven anticancer small molecule -3-bromopyruvate (3BP) against three clinically significant VVC causing Candida species viz., C. albicans, C. tropicalis and C. glabrata. Furthermore, the study validates 3BP's therapeutic application by developing it as a vaginal cream for the treatment of VVC. 3BP exhibited phenomenal antifungal efficacy (killing >99%) with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentrations (MFC) of 256 μg/mL against all tested Candida spp. Time killing kinetics experiment revealed 20 min as the minimum time required for 3BP at 2XMIC to achieve complete-killing (99.9%) in all Candida strains. Moreover, the ergosterol or sorbitol experiment explicated that the antifungal activity of 3BP does not stem from targeting the cell wall or the membrane component ergosterol. Instead, 3BP was observed to instigate a sequence of pre-apoptotic cascade events, such as phosphatidylserine (PS) externalization, nuclear condensation and ROS accumulations, as evidenced by PI, DAPI and DCFH-DA staining methods. Furthermore, 3BP demonstrated a remarkable efficacy in eradicating mature biofilms of Candida spp., achieving a maximum eradication level of 90%. Toxicity/safety profiling in both in vitro erythrocyte lysis and in vivo Galleria mellonella survival assay authenticated the non-toxic nature of 3BP up to 512 μg/mL. Finally, a vaginal cream formulated with 3BP was found to be effective in VVC-induced female mice model, as it significantly decreasing fungal load and protecting vaginal mucosa. Concomitantly, the present study serves as a clear demonstration of antifungal mechanistic action of anticancer drug -3BP, against Candida species. This finding holds significant potential for mitigating candidal infections, particularly VVC, within healthcare environments.
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spelling doaj.art-6052da300b5f499b81740e1113e334b12024-01-04T05:31:39ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032023-01-011812e029592210.1371/journal.pone.0295922ROS mediated anticandidal efficacy of 3-Bromopyruvate prevents vulvovaginal candidiasis in mice model.Ravi JothiSeong-Tshool HongMunkhtur EnkhtsatsralShunmugiah Karutha PandianShanmugaraj GowrishankarCandidal infections, particularly vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC), necessitate effective therapeutic interventions in clinical settings owing to their intricate clinical nature and elusive understanding of their etiological mechanisms. Given the challenges in developing effective antifungal therapies, the strategy of repurposing existing pharmaceuticals has emerged as a promising approach to combat drug-resistant fungi. In this regard, the current study investigates molecular insights on the anti-candidal efficacy of a well-proven anticancer small molecule -3-bromopyruvate (3BP) against three clinically significant VVC causing Candida species viz., C. albicans, C. tropicalis and C. glabrata. Furthermore, the study validates 3BP's therapeutic application by developing it as a vaginal cream for the treatment of VVC. 3BP exhibited phenomenal antifungal efficacy (killing >99%) with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentrations (MFC) of 256 μg/mL against all tested Candida spp. Time killing kinetics experiment revealed 20 min as the minimum time required for 3BP at 2XMIC to achieve complete-killing (99.9%) in all Candida strains. Moreover, the ergosterol or sorbitol experiment explicated that the antifungal activity of 3BP does not stem from targeting the cell wall or the membrane component ergosterol. Instead, 3BP was observed to instigate a sequence of pre-apoptotic cascade events, such as phosphatidylserine (PS) externalization, nuclear condensation and ROS accumulations, as evidenced by PI, DAPI and DCFH-DA staining methods. Furthermore, 3BP demonstrated a remarkable efficacy in eradicating mature biofilms of Candida spp., achieving a maximum eradication level of 90%. Toxicity/safety profiling in both in vitro erythrocyte lysis and in vivo Galleria mellonella survival assay authenticated the non-toxic nature of 3BP up to 512 μg/mL. Finally, a vaginal cream formulated with 3BP was found to be effective in VVC-induced female mice model, as it significantly decreasing fungal load and protecting vaginal mucosa. Concomitantly, the present study serves as a clear demonstration of antifungal mechanistic action of anticancer drug -3BP, against Candida species. This finding holds significant potential for mitigating candidal infections, particularly VVC, within healthcare environments.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0295922&type=printable
spellingShingle Ravi Jothi
Seong-Tshool Hong
Munkhtur Enkhtsatsral
Shunmugiah Karutha Pandian
Shanmugaraj Gowrishankar
ROS mediated anticandidal efficacy of 3-Bromopyruvate prevents vulvovaginal candidiasis in mice model.
PLoS ONE
title ROS mediated anticandidal efficacy of 3-Bromopyruvate prevents vulvovaginal candidiasis in mice model.
title_full ROS mediated anticandidal efficacy of 3-Bromopyruvate prevents vulvovaginal candidiasis in mice model.
title_fullStr ROS mediated anticandidal efficacy of 3-Bromopyruvate prevents vulvovaginal candidiasis in mice model.
title_full_unstemmed ROS mediated anticandidal efficacy of 3-Bromopyruvate prevents vulvovaginal candidiasis in mice model.
title_short ROS mediated anticandidal efficacy of 3-Bromopyruvate prevents vulvovaginal candidiasis in mice model.
title_sort ros mediated anticandidal efficacy of 3 bromopyruvate prevents vulvovaginal candidiasis in mice model
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0295922&type=printable
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