title: Antiproliferation of Berberine in Combination with Fluconazole from the Perspectives of Reactive Oxygen Species, Ergosterol and Drug Efflux in a Fluconazole-ResistantCandida tropicalisIsolate.
abstract: Candida tropicalishas emerged as an important pathogenic fungus in nosocomial infections due to its recalcitrant resistance to conventional antifungal agents, especially to fluconazole (FLC). Berberine (BBR) is a bioactive herbal-originated alkaloids and has been reported to possess antifungal functions againstC. albicans. In this paper, we tried to figure out the antifungal mechanisms of BBR and/or FLC in a clinicalC. tropicalisisolate 2006. In the microdilution test, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of BBR was found 16 μg/mL with fractional inhibitory concentration index (FICI) 0.13 inC. tropicalis2006. The synergism of BBR and FLC was also confirmed microscopically. After the treatments of BBR and/or FLC, the studies revealed that (i) FLC facilitated BBR to increase reactive oxygen species (ROS), (ii) FLC enhanced the intranuclear accumulation of BBR, (iii) BBR decreased the extracellular rhodamine 123 (Rh123) via inhibiting efflux transporters, (iv) FLC assisted BBR to reduce ergosterol content, and (v) BBR in combined with FLC largely downregulated the expressions of Candida drug resistance 1 (CDR1) andCDR2but impact slightly multidrug resistance 1 (MDR1), and upregulate the expression of ergosterol 11 (ERG11). These results suggested that BBR could become a potent antifungal drug to strengthen FLC efficacy in FLC-resistantC. tropicalisvia ROS increase, intracellular BBR accumulation, ergosterol decrease and efflux inhibition.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Chinese and Western Integrative Medicine, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine Hefei, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Chinese and Western Integrative Medicine, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine Hefei, China.
authors.forename: GaoXiang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Chinese and Western Integrative Medicine, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine Hefei, China.
authors.forename: TianMing
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Chinese and Western Integrative Medicine, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine Hefei, China.
authors.forename: DaQiang
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Chinese and Western Integrative Medicine, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine Hefei, China.
authors.forename: ChangZhong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
keywords: Candida tropicalis; berberine; efflux pump; ergosterol; resistance; synergy