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Rajendran K, Ahmed U, Meunier AC, Shaikh MF, Siddiqui R, Anwar A. Nanoparticle-Terpene Fusion: A Game-Changer in Combating Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis Caused by Naegleria fowleri. ACS OMEGA 2024; 9:11597-11607. [PMID: 38497026 PMCID: PMC10938409 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.3c08844] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2023] [Revised: 12/17/2023] [Accepted: 12/22/2023] [Indexed: 03/19/2024]
Abstract
Pathogenic Naegleria fowleri (N. fowleri) are opportunistic free-living amoebae and are the causative agents of a very rare but severe brain infection called primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM). The fatality rate of PAM in reported cases is more than 95%. Most of the drugs used againstN. fowleri infections are repurposed drugs. Therefore, a large number of compounds have been tested againstN. fowleri in vitro, but most of the tested compounds showed high toxicity and an inability to cross the blood-brain barrier. Andrographolide, forskolin, and borneol are important natural compounds that have shown various valuable biological properties. In the present study, the nanoconjugates (AND-AgNPs, BOR-AgNPs, and FOR-AgNPs) of these compounds were synthesized and assessed against both stages (trophozoite and cyst) ofN. fowleri for their antiamoebic and cysticidal potential in vitro. In addition, cytotoxicity and host cell pathogenicity were also evaluated in vitro. FOR-AgNPs were the most potent nanoconjugate and showed potent antiamoebic activity againstN. fowleriwith an IC50 of 26.35 μM. Nanoconjugates FOR-AgNPs, BOR-AgNPs, and AND-AgNPs also significantly inhibit the viability of N. fowleri cysts. Cytotoxicity assessment showed that these nanoconjugates caused minimum damage to human keratinocyte cells (HaCaT cells) at 100 μg/mL, while also effectively reducing the cytopathogenicity of N. fowleri trophozoites to the HaCaT cells. The outcomes of our experiments have unveiled substantial potential for AND-AgNPs, BOR-AgNPs, and FOR-AgNPs in the realm of developing innovative alternative therapeutic agents to combat infections caused by N. fowleri. This study represents a significant step forward in the pursuit of advanced strategies for managing such amoebic infections, laying the foundation for the development of novel and more effective therapeutic modalities in the fight against free-living amoebae.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kavitha Rajendran
- School
of American Education, Sunway University, Subang Jaya 47500, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Usman Ahmed
- Department
of Biological Sciences, School of Medical and Life Sciences, Sunway University, Subang Jaya 47500, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Alexia Chloe Meunier
- Department
of Biological Sciences, School of Medical and Life Sciences, Sunway University, Subang Jaya 47500, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Mohd Farooq Shaikh
- Neuropharmacology
Research Laboratory, Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Bandar Sunway 47500, Malaysia
- School
of Dentistry and Medical Sciences, Charles
Sturt University, Orange 2800, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Ruqaiyyah Siddiqui
- Department
of Microbiota Research Centre, Istinye University, Istanbul 34010, Turkey
| | - Ayaz Anwar
- Department
of Biological Sciences, School of Medical and Life Sciences, Sunway University, Subang Jaya 47500, Selangor, Malaysia
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Rajendran K, Ahmed U, Meunier AC, Shaikh MF, Siddiqui R, Anwar A. Natural Terpenes Inhibit the Cytopathogenicity of Naegleria fowleri Causing Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis in the Human Cell Line Model. ACS Chem Neurosci 2023; 14:4105-4114. [PMID: 37983556 DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.3c00258] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Naegleria fowleri is one of the free-living amoebae and is a causative agent of a lethal and rare central nervous system infection called primary amoebic meningoencephalitis. Despite the advancement in antimicrobial chemotherapy, the fatality rate in the reported cases is more than 95%. Most of the treatment drugs used against N. fowleri infection are repurposed drugs. Therefore, a large number of compounds have been tested against N. fowleri in vitro, but most of the compounds showed high toxicity. To overcome this, we evaluated the effectiveness of naturally occurring terpene compounds against N. fowleri. In this study, we evaluated the antiamoebic potential of natural compounds including Thymol, Borneol, Andrographolide, and Forskolin againstN. fowleri. Thymol showed the highest amoebicidal activity with IC50/24 h at 153.601 ± 19.6 μM. Two combinations of compounds Forskolin + Thymol and Forskolin + Borneol showed a higher effect on the viability of trophozoites as compared to compounds alone and hence showed a synergistic effect. The IC50 reported for Forskolin + Thymol was 81.30 ± 6.86 μM. Borneol showed maximum cysticidal activity with IC50/24 h at 192.605 ± 3.01 μM. Importantly, lactate dehydrogenase release testing revealed that all compounds displayed minimal cytotoxicity to human HaCaT, HeLa, and SH-SY5Y cell lines. The cytopathogenicity assay showed that Thymol and Borneol also significantly reduced the host cell cytotoxicity of pretreated amoeba toward the human HaCaT cell line. So, these terpene compounds hold potential as therapeutic agents against infections caused by N. fowleri and are potentially a step forward in drug development against this deadly pathogen as these compounds have also been reported to cross the blood-brain barrier. Therefore, an in vivo study using animal models is necessary to assess the efficacy of these compounds and the need for further research into the intranasal route of delivery for the treatment of these life-threatening infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kavitha Rajendran
- School of American Education (SAE), Sunway University, Subang Jaya, Selangor 47500, Malaysia
| | - Usman Ahmed
- Department of Biological Sciences, School of Medical and Life Sciences, Sunway University, Subang Jaya, Selangor 47500, Malaysia
| | - Alexia Chloe Meunier
- Department of Biological Sciences, School of Medical and Life Sciences, Sunway University, Subang Jaya, Selangor 47500, Malaysia
| | - Mohd Farooq Shaikh
- Neuropharmacology Research Laboratory, Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Bandar Sunway 47500, Malaysia
- School of Dentistry and Medical Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Orange New South Wales, 2800, Australia
| | - Ruqaiyyah Siddiqui
- Department of Microbiota Research Centre, Istinye University, Istanbul 34010, Turkey
| | - Ayaz Anwar
- Department of Biological Sciences, School of Medical and Life Sciences, Sunway University, Subang Jaya, Selangor 47500, Malaysia
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Chao-Pellicer J, Arberas-Jiménez I, Delgado-Hernández S, Sifaoui I, Tejedor D, García-Tellado F, Piñero JE, Lorenzo-Morales J. Cyanomethyl Vinyl Ethers Against Naegleria fowleri. ACS Chem Neurosci 2023. [PMID: 37167960 DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.3c00110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Naegleria fowleri is a pathogenic amoeba that causes a fulminant and rapidly progressive disease affecting the central nervous system called primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM). Moreover, the disease is fatal in more than 97% of the reported cases, mostly affecting children and young people after practicing aquatic activities in nontreated fresh and warm water bodies contaminated with these amoebae. Currently, the treatment of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis is based on a combination of different antibiotics and antifungals, which are not entirely effective and lead to numerous side effects. In the recent years, research against PAM is focused on the search of novel, less toxic, and fully effective antiamoebic agents. Previous studies have reported the activity of cyano-substituted molecules in different protozoa. Therefore, the activity of 46 novel synthetic cyanomethyl vinyl ethers (QOET-51 to QOET-96) against two type strains of N. fowleri (ATCC 30808 and ATCC 30215) was determined. The data showed that QOET-51, QOET-59, QOET-64, QOET-67, QOET-72, QOET-77, and QOET-79 were the most active molecules. In fact, the selectivity index (CC50/IC50) was sixfold higher when compared to the activities of the drugs of reference. In addition, the mechanism of action of these compounds was studied, with the aim to demonstrate the induction of a programmed cell death process in N. fowleri.
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Affiliation(s)
- Javier Chao-Pellicer
- Instituto Universitario de Enfermedades Tropicales y Salud Pública de Canarias, Universidad de La Laguna, Avda. Astrofísico Fco. Sánchez, S/N, La Laguna 38203, Tenerife, Islas Canarias, Spain
- Departamento de Obstetricia y Ginecología, Pediatría, Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública, Toxicología, Medicina Legal y Forense y Parasitología, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Islas Canarias 38200, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFEC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid 28220, Spain
| | - Iñigo Arberas-Jiménez
- Instituto Universitario de Enfermedades Tropicales y Salud Pública de Canarias, Universidad de La Laguna, Avda. Astrofísico Fco. Sánchez, S/N, La Laguna 38203, Tenerife, Islas Canarias, Spain
- Departamento de Obstetricia y Ginecología, Pediatría, Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública, Toxicología, Medicina Legal y Forense y Parasitología, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Islas Canarias 38200, Spain
| | - Samuel Delgado-Hernández
- Instituto de Productos Naturales y Agrobiología, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Avda. Fco. Sánchez 3, La Laguna 38206, Tenerife, Islas Canarias, Spain
- Departamento de Química. Unidad Departamental de Química Analítica, Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Tenerife 38206, Spain
| | - Ines Sifaoui
- Instituto Universitario de Enfermedades Tropicales y Salud Pública de Canarias, Universidad de La Laguna, Avda. Astrofísico Fco. Sánchez, S/N, La Laguna 38203, Tenerife, Islas Canarias, Spain
- Departamento de Obstetricia y Ginecología, Pediatría, Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública, Toxicología, Medicina Legal y Forense y Parasitología, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Islas Canarias 38200, Spain
| | - David Tejedor
- Instituto de Productos Naturales y Agrobiología, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Avda. Fco. Sánchez 3, La Laguna 38206, Tenerife, Islas Canarias, Spain
- Departamento de Química. Unidad Departamental de Química Analítica, Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Tenerife 38206, Spain
| | - Fernando García-Tellado
- Instituto de Productos Naturales y Agrobiología, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Avda. Fco. Sánchez 3, La Laguna 38206, Tenerife, Islas Canarias, Spain
- Departamento de Química. Unidad Departamental de Química Analítica, Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Tenerife 38206, Spain
| | - José E Piñero
- Instituto Universitario de Enfermedades Tropicales y Salud Pública de Canarias, Universidad de La Laguna, Avda. Astrofísico Fco. Sánchez, S/N, La Laguna 38203, Tenerife, Islas Canarias, Spain
- Departamento de Obstetricia y Ginecología, Pediatría, Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública, Toxicología, Medicina Legal y Forense y Parasitología, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Islas Canarias 38200, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFEC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid 28220, Spain
| | - Jacob Lorenzo-Morales
- Instituto Universitario de Enfermedades Tropicales y Salud Pública de Canarias, Universidad de La Laguna, Avda. Astrofísico Fco. Sánchez, S/N, La Laguna 38203, Tenerife, Islas Canarias, Spain
- Departamento de Obstetricia y Ginecología, Pediatría, Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública, Toxicología, Medicina Legal y Forense y Parasitología, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Islas Canarias 38200, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFEC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid 28220, Spain
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Rotondo R, Oliva MA, Arcella A. The Sesquiterpene Lactone Cynaropicrin Manifests Strong Cytotoxicity in Glioblastoma Cells U-87 MG by Induction of Oxidative Stress. Biomedicines 2022; 10:biomedicines10071583. [PMID: 35884887 PMCID: PMC9312546 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines10071583] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2022] [Revised: 06/27/2022] [Accepted: 06/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Cynaropicrin has shown a wide range of pharmacological properties, such as antitumor action. Here, we showed the inhibitory effect of Cyn on human glioblastoma cell U-87 MG growth. According to the IC50 values, Cyn 4, 8 and 10 µM displayed a significant cytotoxicity, as confirmed by the cell count and MTT assay. Furthermore, Cyn completely abolished the ability of U-87 MG to form colonies and induced drastic morphological changes. Interestingly, pretreatment with ROS scavenger N-acetylcysteine 3 mM reversed the cytotoxicity induced by Cyn 25 µM and preserved the cells by morphological changes. Therefore, oxidative stress induction was evaluated at low 8- and high 25-µM concentrations in U-87 MG, as demonstrated by the quantitative and qualitative analysis of ROS. A prolonged increase in ROS generation under Cyn 25 µM exposure was followed by the loss of the mitochondrial membrane potential in treated U-87 MG cells. An acute treatment with Cyn 25 µM induced Cyt c release, as revealed by immunofluorescence staining and the activation of cell death pathways, apoptosis and autophagy. On the other hand, chronic treatment with Cyn 8 µM induced senescence, as revealed by the increase in SA-β-Gal activity. Moreover, at this concentration, Cyn led to ERK dephosphorylation accompanied by a relevant reduction of the NF-κB p65 subunit. Finally, the combined effect of TMZ and Cyn resulted in synergistic cytotoxicity, as evaluated by the Bliss additivity model. The strong cytotoxicity of Cyn was also confirmed on IDH1 mutant U-87 MG cells and patient-derived IDH wild-type glioblastoma cell lines NULU and ZAR. In conclusion, given the high toxicity at minimal concentrations, the high inhibition of tumor cell growth and synergy with the standard drug for glioblastoma TMZ, Cyn could be proposed as a potential adjuvant for the treatment of glioblastoma.
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