Abstract

Candida albicans is a highly drug-resistant fungus for which new treatments are urgently needed due to the lack of clinically effective options. In this study, we evaluated the antifungal activity and mechanism of plasma-activated Ezhangfeng Cuji (PAEC) against Candida albicans and compared it with physiological saline (PS), plasma-activated physiological saline (PAPS) and Ezhangfeng Cuji (EC). After dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma treatment with EC for 20 min followed by a 10 min immersion of Candida albicans, the fungus was reduced by approximately 3 orders of magnitude. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) results showed an increase of 41.18% and 129.88% in the concentration of oxymatrine and rhein, respectively, after plasma-treated EC. The concentrations of reactive species (RS), such as H2O2, NO3-, and O3, were found to be higher and the pH value was getting lower in PS after plasma treatment. Detailed analysis of intracellular material leakage, reactive oxygen species (ROS), apoptosis for Candida albicans and observation by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) demonstrated that PAPS, EC and PAEC disrupt the morphological structure of Candida albicans to varying degrees.Additionally, specific analyses on Candida albicans virulence factors, such as adhesion to tissue surfaces, cell surface hydrophobicity (CSH), the transition of yeast-phase cells to mycelium-phase cells, and the secretion of hydrolytic enzymes for Candida albicans were conducted and found to be inhibited after PAPS/EC/PAEC treatment. In our investigation, the inhibitory effects on Candida albicans were ranked from strong to weak as follows: PAEC, EC, PAPS, and PS.

Key Points

PAEC inactivates the fungus more effectively than PAPS and EC.

PAEC can destroy fungal morphological structure.

PAEC can reduce fungal virulence factors.

PAEC’s antifungal ability is due to the synergy between RS and TCM components.

Details

Title
Plasma activated Ezhangfeng Cuji as innovative antifungal agent and its inactivation mechanism
Author
Lin, Lin 1 ; Zhuo, Yue 2 ; Dong, Qiran 3 ; Yang, Chunjun 4 ; Cheng, Cheng 5   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Liu, Taofeng 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

1  University of Chinese Medicine, The Postgraduate School of Anhui, Hefei, People’s Republic of China (GRID:grid.252251.3) (ISNI:0000 0004 1757 8247) 
2  The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Department of Dermatology, Hefei, People’s Republic of China (GRID:grid.412679.f) (ISNI:0000 0004 1771 3402); Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China (GRID:grid.410745.3) (ISNI:0000 0004 1765 1045) 
3  The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Department of Dermatology, Hefei, People’s Republic of China (GRID:grid.412679.f) (ISNI:0000 0004 1771 3402) 
4  Anhui Medical University, Department of Dermatology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Hefei, People’s Republic of China (GRID:grid.186775.a) (ISNI:0000 0000 9490 772X) 
5  Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Plasma Physics, Hefei, People’s Republic of China (GRID:grid.9227.e) (ISNI:0000000119573309) 
Pages
65
Publication year
2023
Publication date
Dec 2023
Publisher
Springer Nature B.V.
e-ISSN
21910855
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13568-023-01571-6
ProQuest document ID
2830001977
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2023. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.