title: Matrine reduces yeast-to-hypha transition and resistance of a fluconazole-resistant strain of Candida albicans.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the potential effect of matrine on reducing the growth of hypha and lowering the resistance of a fluconazole-resistant colony of Candida albicans.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Candida albicans SC5314 and a fluconazole-resistant C. albicans 215 were used. As for C. albicans SC5314, minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC(80)) and effective concentration (EC(50)) were determined, 1 mg ml(-1) matrine could inhibit nearly 80% of planktonic growth by inverted microscope, 2 mg ml(-1) matrine suppressed 50% of metabolic activity of biofilm by XTT assay, vanishing hypha could be observed on spider agar containing 2 mg ml(-1) matrine, the expressions of three hypha-related genes, namely ALS 3, SUN 41 and PBS 2, were suppressed by 29, 45 and 61% by 2 mg ml(-1) matrine. Also, matrine could lower the resistance of C. albicans 215, in either the free-floating form or the biofilm phenotype.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Matrine had favourable antifungal potential and might be able to reverse the fluconazole resistance of clinical isolates at relatively high concentration. The anti-candidal performance of matrine could be tightly associated with yeast-to-hypha transition proved by spider agar test and qRT-PCR.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  More efforts are needed to find new antifungal agents. Matrine could be a potential candidate to fight against Candida-related infections by regulating yeast-to-hypha transition.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Chinese and Western Integrative Medicine, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000470:Alkaloids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018441:Biofilms / Q000187:drug effects; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000187:drug effects*; D025141:Drug Resistance, Fungal; D015725:Fluconazole / Q000494:pharmacology*; D025301:Hyphae / Q000187:drug effects; D011807:Quinolizines / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000093842:Matrines
chemical_list: D000470:Alkaloids; D000935:Antifungal Agents; D011807:Quinolizines; D015725:Fluconazole; D000093842:Matrines
keywords: Candida albicans; azole resistance; clinical isolate; fluconazole; hypha; matrine