title: Exposure of Candida to p-anisaldehyde inhibits its growth and ergosterol biosynthesis.
abstract: p-Anisaldehyde (4-methoxybenzaldehyde), an extract from Pimpinella anisum seeds, is a very common digestive herb of north India. Antifungal activity of p-anisaldehyde was investigated on 10 fluconazole-resistant and 5 fluconazole-sensitive Candida strains. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC(90)) ranged from 250 µg/ml to 600 µg/ml for both sensitive and resistant strains. Ergosterol content was drastically reduced by p-anisaldehyde-62% in sensitive and 66% in resistant strains-but did not corelate well with MIC(90) values. It appears that p-anisaldehyde exerts its antifungal effect by decreasing NADPH routed through up-regulation of putative aryl-alcohol dehydrogenases. Cellular toxicity of p-anisaldehyde against H9c2 rat cardiac myoblasts was less than 20% at the highest MIC value. These findings encourage further development of p-anisaldehyde.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi-110025, India.
authors.forename: Sheikh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shreaz
authors.forename: Rimple
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bhatia
authors.forename: Neelofar
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Sumathi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Muralidhar
authors.forename: Seemi F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Basir
authors.forename: Nikhat
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Manzoor
authors.forename: Luqman Ahmad
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Khan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001547:Benzaldehydes / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000633:toxicity; D002175:Candida / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004875:Ergosterol / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D007194:India; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D032446:Myoblasts / Q000187:drug effects; D009249:NADP / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D028042:Pimpinella / Q000737:chemistry; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000633:toxicity; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D001547:Benzaldehydes; D010936:Plant Extracts; D009249:NADP; C024896:4-anisaldehyde; D004875:Ergosterol