Anticandidal Activity of Kalopanaxsaponin A: Effect on Proliferation, Cell Morphology, and Key Virulence Attributes of Candida albicans
Open accessAbstract
Background: The pathogenicity of Candida albicans is attributed to various virulence factors including adhesion to the surface of epithelial cells or mucosa, germ tube formation, hyphal morphogenesis, development of drug resistant biofilms, and so on. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of Kalopanaxsaponin A (KPA) on the virulence of C. albicans. Methods: The effect of KPA on the virulence of C. albicans was characterized by an XTT reduction assay and fluorescent microscopic observation. The action mechanism was further explored using GC/MS system and BioTek Synergy2 spectrofluorophotometry. The cytotoxicity and therapeutic effect of KPA were were evaluated by the Caenorhabditis elegans-C. albicans infection model in vivo. Results: The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of KPA was 8~16 μg/mL for various genotypes of C. albicans. The compound was identified as having remarkable effect on the adhesion, morphological transition and biofilm formation of C. albicans. The results of fluorescent microscopy and GC/MS system suggested that KPA could promote the secretion of farnesol by regulating the expression of Dpp3 and decrease the intracellular cAMP level, which together inhibited morphological transition and biofilm formation. Notably, KPA showed low toxicity in vivo and a low possibility of developing resistance. Conclusion: Our results demonstrated that KPA had remarkable efficacy against C. albicans pathogenicity, suggesting that it could be a potential option for the clinical treatment of candidiasis.
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KPA inhibits adhesion, biofilm formation, and yeast-hyphal transition of C. albicans.
“KPA has shown prominent effects against C. albicans pathogenicity by inhibiting adhesion, biofilm formation, and yeast-hyphal transition.”
From Recent Progress in Research on Mitochondrion-Targeted Antifungal Drugs: a Review (2023) · cites this paper as [70]
KPA shows anticandidal activity, with an MIC range of 8 to 16 μg/mL.
“It shows anticandidal activity, with an MIC range of 8 to 16 μg/mL and prolongs the survival time of C. elegans infected with C. albicans (70).”
From Recent Progress in Research on Mitochondrion-Targeted Antifungal Drugs: a Review (2023) · cites this paper as [70]
Kalopanaxsaponin A (KPA) is a triterpenoid saponin isolated from the stem bark of Kalopanax pictus.
“Kalopanaxsaponin A (KPA) is a triterpenoid saponin isolated from the stem bark of Kalopanax pictus.”
From Recent Progress in Research on Mitochondrion-Targeted Antifungal Drugs: a Review (2023) · cites this paper as [70]
KPA prolongs the survival time of C. elegans infected with C. albicans.
“It shows anticandidal activity, with an MIC range of 8 to 16 μg/mL and prolongs the survival time of C. elegans infected with C. albicans (70).”
From Recent Progress in Research on Mitochondrion-Targeted Antifungal Drugs: a Review (2023) · cites this paper as [70]
KPA induces ROS accumulation and mitochondrial disturbance.
“KPA also induces ROS accumulation and mitochondrial disturbance, which indicates that mitochondria may be a potential target of KPA.”
From Recent Progress in Research on Mitochondrion-Targeted Antifungal Drugs: a Review (2023) · cites this paper as [70]
The Results sections on cAMP rescue and Dpp3 expression describe effects on hyphae, biofilms, and farnesol secretion, not ROS accumulation or mitochondrial disturbance. Searches for “ROS,” “mitochondria,” and related terms found no passage in our copy addressing either claimed effect or identifying mitochondria as a potential KPA target. The indexed passages provide no page numbers. (LLM, conf=0.75)
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- Authors
- Li, Y., Shan, M., Yan, M., Yao, H., Wang, Y., Gu, B., Zhu, Z., & Li, H.
- Affiliations
- Xuzhou Medical College (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Zhu, Zuobin
- Li, Hongchun
- Venue
- Frontiers in Microbiology
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2019-12-03
- Volume
- 10
- Pages
- 2844-2844
- ISSN
- 1664-302X (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6902085
- OpenAlex
- W2992980443
- Cited by
- 16
- References
- 35
- Citations by year
- 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 5 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 3
- FWCI
- 1.15
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Frontiers in Microbiology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Natural Science Research of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions of China
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › Antifungal resistance and susceptibility
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Essential Oils and Antimicrobial Activity
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Fungal Infections and Studies
- Keywords
- Candida albicans, antifungal activity, virulence factors, adhesion, germ tube formation, hyphal morphogenesis, biofilm formation, farnesol, dipeptidyl peptidase 3, intracellular cAMP, candidiasis, minimum inhibitory concentration, cytotoxicity
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