Effects of eugenol and cinnamaldehyde on clinical isolates of Candida auris

• Grant number: 22/07036-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: December 01, 2022
• End date: February 29, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Preventive Veterinary Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Luciana da Silva Ruiz Menezes
• Grantee: Débora Silva Marques de Sousa
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IBB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Candida auris is a multi-resistant antifungal yeast first isolated in Japan about a decade ago. Since then, it has been isolated on all continents and has become a global threat due to its high capacity to develop resistance to the main classes of antifungals, azoles, polyenes and echinocandins, compromising the treatment of infections. It presents even less susceptibility to disinfectants commonly used in hospital environments, facilitating their stay in these places. In December 2020, the first outbreak of C. auris was reported in Brazil, in a hospital in Salvador, Bahia. Since then, two other outbreaks have been reported, also in Salvador and Recife, in December 2021 and January 2022, respectively. Natural products have been extensively studied in order to find molecules with antimicrobial potential. In the last forty years, more than half of the organic compounds approved for human use are derived from natural products. Among these compounds, few with antifungal action were approved due to their cytotoxicity to human cells because fungi are eukaryotic organisms. Eugenol and cinnamaldehyde, major compounds of essential oils of Indian clove and cinnamon, respectively, have antimicrobial action against several species of Candida spp. Therefore, our objective is to analyze the action of eugenol and cinnamaldehyde on isolates of C. auris, using methodologies to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), minimum fungicidal concentration (CFM), inhibition of biofilm formation, synergistic interactions with drugs commonly used to treat fungal infections, as well as the cytotoxicity of these products in primate liver and kidney cells. Finally, we also intend to infer the possible mechanisms of action of these compounds through proteomic analysis.