title: Cellular Structural Changes in Candida albicans Caused by the Hydroalcoholic Extract from Sapindus saponaria L.
abstract: Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) is a disease caused by the abnormal growth of yeast-like fungi in the mucosa of the female genital tract. Candida albicans is the principal etiological agent involved in VVC, but reports have shown an increase in the prevalence of Candida non-C. albicans (CNCA) cases, which complicates VVC treatment because CNCA does not respond well to antifungal therapy. Our group has reported the in vitro antifungal activity of extracts from Sapindus saponaria L. The present study used scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy to further evaluate the antifungal activity of hydroalcoholic extract from S. saponaria (HE) against yeast obtained from VVC and structural changes induced by HE. We observed the antifungal activity of HE against 125 vaginal yeasts that belonged to four different species of the Candida genus and S. cerevisae. The results suggest that saponins that are present in HE act on the cell wall or membrane of yeast at the first moments after contact, causing damage to these structures and cell lysis.
authors.affiliation: Departamento Análises Clínicas e Biomedicina, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Av. Colombo 5790, bloco T20, Maringá 87020-900, Brazil. cristianeshinobu@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Cristiane S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Shinobu-Mesquita
authors.affiliation: Departamento Análises Clínicas e Biomedicina, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Av. Colombo 5790, bloco T20, Maringá 87020-900, Brazil. patbonfim.09@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Patricia S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Bonfim-Mendonça
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Farmácia, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Av. Colombo 5790, bloco K80, Maringá 87020-900, Brazil. amandalmoreira@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Amanda L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Moreira
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Farmácia, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Av. Colombo 5790, bloco K80, Maringá 87020-900, Brazil. icpferreira@uem.br.
authors.forename: Izabel C P
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biologia Celular, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba 85131-990, Brazil. donatti@ufpr.br.
authors.forename: Lucelia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Donatti
authors.affiliation: Campus Palotina, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Palotina 85950-000, Brazil. drifiorini@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fiorini
authors.affiliation: Departamento Análises Clínicas e Biomedicina, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Av. Colombo 5790, bloco T20, Maringá 87020-900, Brazil. terezinha.svidzinski@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Terezinha I E
authors.initials: TI
authors.lastname: Svidzinski
mesh_terms: D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D002175:Candida / Q000187:drug effects*; D002181:Candidiasis, Vulvovaginal / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000187:drug effects*; D032127:Sapindus / Q000378:metabolism*; D012503:Saponins / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts; D012503:Saponins
keywords: Sapindus saponaria; antifungals; saponins; vulvovaginal candidiasis