Effects of farnesol and lyticase on the formation of Candida albicans biofilm

Vet World Vol.13 June-2020 Article-3

Research Article

Veterinary World, 13(6): 1030-1036

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2020.1030-1036

Nadezhda Sachivkina¹, Ekaterina Lenchenko², Dmitri Blumenkrants², Alfia Ibragimova³, and Olga Bazarkina⁴

1. Department of Microbiology and Virology, RUDN University, Miklukho Maklaya Street, 6, Moscow 117198, Russia.
2. Department of Veterinary Medicine, Moscow State University of Food Production, Volokolamskoe Highway, 11, Moscow 125080, Russia.
3. Department of Foreign Languages, Agrarian Technological Institute, RUDN University, Miklukho Maklaya Street, 6, Moscow 117198, Russia.
4. Department of Management and Economy in Pharmacy, Medical Institute, RUDN University, Miklukho Maklaya Street, 6, Moscow 117198, Russia.

Background and Aim: Candida albicans is a dimorphic fungus that has both yeast and filamentous forms. It is part of the normal flora in the oral and genital areas of mammals. One factor for the pathogenicity of C. albicans is its ability to switch from yeast to hyphae. The hyphal form adheres and penetrates tissues more readily than the yeast form and produces biofilms that are associated with chronic infection. Biofilms are protective niches that enable microorganisms to be more resistant to antibiotic treatment, thus allowing for persistent infection. The first stage in the transition from yeast to hyphae involves the formation of a germ tube, and this transition is triggered by interactions with host cells. Germ tube formation is dependent on serum, pH, temperature, and quorum-sensing molecules (QSMs). Farnesol, which is a QSM in C. albicans, can prevent yeast to hyphae conversion and inhibits the growth of fungal biofilm. Lyticase is a synergistic enzyme complex that catalyzes yeast cell lysis by β-1,3-glucanase and is a highly specific alkaline protease that produces protoplasts or spheroplasts. This study investigated the effect of farnesol and lyticase on the formation of C. albicans biofilms.

Materials and Methods: C. albicans ATCC 2091 was cultivated on liquid and solid Sabouraud media. The presence of C. albicans was confirmed using HiCrome Candida Agar chromogenic medium. Enzyme activities were assayed using a HiCandida Identification Kit. The morphology and densitometry parameters of C. albicans biofilms were considered in the presence of farnesol (Sigma-Aldrich, Germany), lyticase (from Arthrobacter luteus; Sigma-Aldrich, Germany), and farnesol–lyticase.

Results: This study shows that both farnesol and lyticase possess antifungal activity against C. albicans biofilms. A significant difference among treatment groups (p<0.05) was observed from strong biofilm production to medium and weak.

Conclusion: Many studies have been devoted to the antimicrobial action of farnesol. Bacterial enzyme lyticase is also used to degrade fungal cell walls. Both molecules show substantial antifungal properties that are similar to the properties of modern antimycotics. The current study demonstrates that farnesol and lyticase can disrupt biofilm formation in C. albicans ATCC 2091, which is an effective biofilm producer. Keywords: antimycotic activity, biofilms, Candida albicans, enzyme activities, farnesol, hemolytic activity, HiCrome Candida Agar, lyticase, optical density, quorum sensing.

Keywords: antimycotic activity, biofilms, Candida albicans, enzyme activities, farnesol, hemolytic activity, HiCrome Candida Agar, lyticase, optical density, quorum sensing.

How to cite this article: Sachivkina N, Lenchenko E, Blumenkrants D, Ibragimova A, Bazarkina O (2020) Effects of farnesol and lyticase on the formation of Candida albicans biofilm, Veterinary World, 13(6): 1030-1036.

Received: 28-01-2020 Accepted: 27-04-2020 Published online: 08-06-2020

Corresponding author: Nadezhda Sachivkina E-mail: sachivkina@yandex.ru

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2020.1030-1036

Copyright: Sachivkina, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.