title: Exploration of the anticandidal mechanism of Cassia spectabilis in debilitating candidiasis.
abstract: Candida albicans has become resistant to the commercially available, toxic, and expensive anti-Candida agents that are on the market. These factors force the search for new antifungal agents from natural resources. Cassia spectabilis had been traditionally employed by healers for many generations. The possible mechanisms of the C. spectabilis leaf extract were determined by potassium leakage study and the effect of the extract on the constituents of the cell wall and enzymes as well as the morphological changes on C. albicans cells were studied along with cytotoxicity assays. The cytotoxicity result indicated that the extract is nontoxic as was clearly substantiated by a half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) value of 59.10 μg/mL. The treated cells (C. spectabilis extract) demonstrated potassium leakage of 1039 parts per million (ppm) compared to Amphotericin B (AmpB)-treated cells with a released potassium value of 1115 ppm. The effects of the extract on the cell wall proteins illustrated that there were three major types of variations in the expression of treated cell wall proteins: the presence of new proteins, the absence of proteins, and the amount of expressed protein. The activities of two enzymes, α-glucosidase and proteinase, were determined to be significantly high, thereby not fully coinciding with the properties of the antifungal reaction triggered by C. spectabilis. The morphology of C. albicans cells treated with the C. spectabilis extract showed that the cells had abnormalities and were damaged or detached within the microcolonies. Our study verifies C. spectabilis leaf extract as an effective anti-C. albicans agent.
authors: Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine (INFORMM), Universiti Sains Malaysia, USM, Pulau Pinang 11800, Malaysia.
authors: Angeline
authors: A
authors: Torey
authors: Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine (INFORMM), Universiti Sains Malaysia, USM, Pulau Pinang 11800, Malaysia.
authors: Soundararajan
authors: S
authors: Vijayarathna
authors: Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine (INFORMM), Universiti Sains Malaysia, USM, Pulau Pinang 11800, Malaysia.
authors: Subramanion L
authors: SL
authors: Jothy
authors: Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine (INFORMM), Universiti Sains Malaysia, USM, Pulau Pinang 11800, Malaysia.
authors: Sivapragasam
authors: S
authors: Gothai
authors: Dental Research & Training Unit, and Oral Cancer Research and Coordinating Centre (OCRCC), Faculty of Dentistry, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia.
authors: Yeng
authors: Y
authors: Chen
authors: Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine (INFORMM), Universiti Sains Malaysia, USM, Pulau Pinang 11800, Malaysia.
authors: Lachimanan Yoga
authors: LY
authors: Latha
authors: Nanomedicine-Laboratory of Immunology and Molecular Biomedical Research (LIMBR), Centre for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Biosciences (BioDeakin), Institute for Frontier Materials (IFM), Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Victoria 3217, Australia.
authors: Jagat R
authors: JR
authors: Kanwar
authors: Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Kota Campus, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu 20400, Malaysia.
authors: Saravanan
authors: S
authors: Dharmaraj
authors: Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine (INFORMM), Universiti Sains Malaysia, USM, Pulau Pinang 11800, Malaysia.
authors: Sreenivasan
authors: S
authors: Sasidharan
keywords: Anticandidal mechanism; Cell wall protein; Glucosidase; Morphology; Potassium leakage; Proteinase