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Malec K, Mikołajczyk A, Marciniak D, Gawin-Mikołajewicz A, Matera-Witkiewicz A, Karolewicz B, Nawrot U, Khimyak YZ, Nartowski KP. Pluronic F-127 Enhances the Antifungal Activity of Fluconazole against Resistant Candida Strains. ACS Infect Dis 2024; 10:215-231. [PMID: 38109184 PMCID: PMC10795414 DOI: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.3c00536] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2023] [Revised: 11/13/2023] [Accepted: 11/21/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023]
Abstract
Candida strains as the most frequent causes of infections, along with their increased drug resistance, pose significant clinical and financial challenges to the healthcare system. Some polymeric excipients were reported to interfere with the multidrug resistance mechanism. Bearing in mind that there are a limited number of marketed products with fluconazole (FLU) for the topical route of administration, Pluronic F-127 (PLX)/FLU formulations were investigated in this work. The aims of this study were to investigate (i) whether PLX-based formulations can increase the susceptibility of resistant Candida strains to FLU, (ii) whether there is a correlation between block polymer concentration and the antifungal efficacy of the FLU-loaded PLX formulations, and (iii) what the potential mode of action of PLX assisting FLU is. The yeast growth inhibition upon incubation with PLX formulations loaded with FLU was statistically significant. The highest efficacy of the azole agent was observed in the presence of 5.0 and 10.0% w/v of PLX. The upregulation of the CDR1/CDR2 genes was detected in the investigated Candida strains, indicating that the efflux of the drug from the fungal cell was the main mechanism of the resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katarzyna Malec
- Department of Drug Form Technology, Faculty of
Pharmacy, Wroclaw Medical University, 211a Borowska Str, 50-556
Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Aleksandra Mikołajczyk
- Screening Biological Activity Assays and Collection of
Biological Material Laboratory, Wroclaw Medical University,
211a Borowska Str, 50-556 Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Dominik Marciniak
- Department of Drug Form Technology, Faculty of
Pharmacy, Wroclaw Medical University, 211a Borowska Str, 50-556
Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Agnieszka Gawin-Mikołajewicz
- Department of Drug Form Technology, Faculty of
Pharmacy, Wroclaw Medical University, 211a Borowska Str, 50-556
Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Agnieszka Matera-Witkiewicz
- Screening Biological Activity Assays and Collection of
Biological Material Laboratory, Wroclaw Medical University,
211a Borowska Str, 50-556 Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Bożena Karolewicz
- Department of Drug Form Technology, Faculty of
Pharmacy, Wroclaw Medical University, 211a Borowska Str, 50-556
Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Urszula Nawrot
- Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology and
Parasitology, Wroclaw Medical University, 211a Borowska Str,
50-556 Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Yaroslav Z. Khimyak
- Department of Drug Form Technology, Faculty of
Pharmacy, Wroclaw Medical University, 211a Borowska Str, 50-556
Wroclaw, Poland
- School of Pharmacy, University of East
Anglia, Chancellors Drive, NR4 7TJ Norwich, U.K.
| | - Karol P. Nartowski
- Department of Drug Form Technology, Faculty of
Pharmacy, Wroclaw Medical University, 211a Borowska Str, 50-556
Wroclaw, Poland
- School of Pharmacy, University of East
Anglia, Chancellors Drive, NR4 7TJ Norwich, U.K.
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Ostroumova OS, Efimova SS. Lipid-Centric Approaches in Combating Infectious Diseases: Antibacterials, Antifungals and Antivirals with Lipid-Associated Mechanisms of Action. Antibiotics (Basel) 2023; 12:1716. [PMID: 38136750 PMCID: PMC10741038 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics12121716] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2023] [Revised: 12/05/2023] [Accepted: 12/08/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023] Open
Abstract
One of the global challenges of the 21st century is the increase in mortality from infectious diseases against the backdrop of the spread of antibiotic-resistant pathogenic microorganisms. In this regard, it is worth targeting antibacterials towards the membranes of pathogens that are quite conservative and not amenable to elimination. This review is an attempt to critically analyze the possibilities of targeting antimicrobial agents towards enzymes involved in pathogen lipid biosynthesis or towards bacterial, fungal, and viral lipid membranes, to increase the permeability via pore formation and to modulate the membranes' properties in a manner that makes them incompatible with the pathogen's life cycle. This review discusses the advantages and disadvantages of each approach in the search for highly effective but nontoxic antimicrobial agents. Examples of compounds with a proven molecular mechanism of action are presented, and the types of the most promising pharmacophores for further research and the improvement of the characteristics of antibiotics are discussed. The strategies that pathogens use for survival in terms of modulating the lipid composition and physical properties of the membrane, achieving a balance between resistance to antibiotics and the ability to facilitate all necessary transport and signaling processes, are also considered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olga S. Ostroumova
- Laboratory of Membrane and Ion Channel Modeling, Institute of Cytology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Tikhoretsky Ave. 4, St. Petersburg 194064, Russia;
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Asha RN, Sankarganesh M, Bhuvanesh N, Nayagam BRD. Synthesis, structural, spectral, antidiabetic, DNA interactions and molecular docking investigations of a piperidine derivative. J Mol Struct 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.molstruc.2021.131692] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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Nicola AM, Albuquerque P, Paes HC, Fernandes L, Costa FF, Kioshima ES, Abadio AKR, Bocca AL, Felipe MS. Antifungal drugs: New insights in research & development. Pharmacol Ther 2018; 195:21-38. [PMID: 30347212 DOI: 10.1016/j.pharmthera.2018.10.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 80] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
The need for better antifungal therapy is commonly accepted in view of the high mortality rates associated with systemic infections, the low number of available antifungal classes, their associated toxicity and the increasing number of infections caused by strains with natural or acquired resistance. The urgency to expand the range of therapeutic options for the treatment of fungal infections has led researchers in recent decades to seek alternative antifungal targets when compared to the conventional ones currently used. Although new potential targets are reported, translating the discoveries from bench to bedside is a long process and most of these drugs fail to reach the patients. In this review, we discuss the development of antifungal drugs focusing on the approach of drug repurposing and the search for novel drugs for classical targets, the most recently described gene targets for drug development, the possibilities of immunotherapy using antibodies, cytokines, therapeutic vaccines and antimicrobial peptides.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Patrícia Albuquerque
- Faculty of Ceilândia, University of Brasília, Brazil; Graduate Programme in Microbial Biology, University of Brasília, Brazil
| | - Hugo Costa Paes
- Division of Clinical Medicine, University of Brasília Medical School, Brazil
| | - Larissa Fernandes
- Faculty of Ceilândia, University of Brasília, Brazil; Graduate Programme in Microbial Biology, University of Brasília, Brazil
| | - Fabricio F Costa
- Graduate Programme in Genomic Science and Biotechnology, Catholic University of Brasília, Brazil; MATTER, Chicago, IL, USA; Cancer Biology and Epigenomics Program, Ann & Robert Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago Research Center, Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Erika Seki Kioshima
- Department of Clinical Analysis and Biomedicine, State University of Maringá, Paraná, Brazil
| | - Ana Karina Rodrigues Abadio
- School for Applied Social and Agricultural Sciences, State University of Mato Grosso, Nova Mutum Campus, Mato Grosso, Brazil
| | | | - Maria Sueli Felipe
- Graduate Programme in Genomic Science and Biotechnology, Catholic University of Brasília, Brazil; Department of Cell Biology, Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Brasília, Brazil.
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Wong SSW, Samaranayake LP, Seneviratne CJ. In pursuit of the ideal antifungal agent for Candida infections: high-throughput screening of small molecules. Drug Discov Today 2014; 19:1721-1730. [PMID: 24952336 DOI: 10.1016/j.drudis.2014.06.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2014] [Revised: 05/23/2014] [Accepted: 06/12/2014] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Candida infections have created a great burden on the public healthcare sector. The situation is worsened by recent epidemiological changes. Furthermore, the current arsenal of antifungal agents is limited and associated with undesirable drawbacks. Therefore, new antifungal agents that surpass the existing ones are urgently needed. High-throughput screening of small molecule libraries enables rapid hit identification and, possibly, increases hit rate. Moreover, the identified hits could be associated with unrecognized or multiple drug targets, which would provide novel insights into the biological processes of the pathogen. Hence, it is proposed that high-throughput screening of small molecules is particularly important in the pursuit of the ideal antifungal agents for Candida infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah S W Wong
- Faculty of Dentistry, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
| | | | - Chaminda J Seneviratne
- Faculty of Dentistry, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; Oral Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
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