Antifungal susceptibilities, in vitro production of virulence factors and activities of ceragenins against Candida spp. isolated from vulvovaginal candidiasis

Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) is the second most common cause of vaginitis after bacterial vaginosis, affecting millions of women worldwide every year. Candida albicans is the most frequent agent of VVC followed by other species of Candida such as C. glabrata and C. parapsilosis. Out of a total of 100 clinical isolates of Candida spp. obtained from patients diagnosed with VVC, 84 were identified as C. albicans, while the remaining isolates were identified as non--albicans Candida strains. Phospholipases and proteinases were produced by a majority of the C. albicans strains and esterases and hemolysins a minority of these strains. Among the non-C. albicans strains, only a few of the strains produced these proteins. Nearly all of the isolates formed biofilms. Our results showed that the butoconazole, clotrimazole, and fluconazole were active against C. albicans and less so against the non-albicans Candida strains. The MIC90 of amphotericin B and nystatins were 2 and 4 g/ml, respectively, against either C. albicans or non-albicans Candida spp. Representative ceragenins (CSA-13, CSA-131, and CSA-138), developed as mimics of endogenous antimicrobial peptides, were active against fluconazole-resistant strains, both alone and in combination with fluconazole. These results suggest the potential use of ceragenins in treating VVC, including infections caused by fluconazole-resistant isolates

SPECTRAL CHARACTERIZATION AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF SOME TRANSITION METAL COMPLEXES OF 2-(5-NITRO-1H-BENZIMIDAZOL-2-YL)-4-BROMOPHENOL

MnCl2, FeCl3, Ru(DMSO)(4)Cl-2, CoCl2, NiCl2, PdCl2, CuCl2, AgNO3, CdCl2 and HgCl2 complexes of 2-(5-nitro-1H-benzimidazol-2-yl)-4-bromophenol (HL) were synthesized and characterized. The structures of the complexes were confirmed on the basis of elemental analysis, TGA, molar conductivity and magnetic moment measurements, FT-IR, far-IR, FT-Raman, UV-Visible, NMR and fluorescence spectroscopy. According to the analytical and spectral data, the ligand acted as bidentate, via the imine nitrogen and the phenolate oxygen atoms towards to the metal ions except the Ag(I). The complexes were screened for in vitro antibacterial activities against S. aureus, S. epidermidis, E. coli, K. pneumoniae, P. aeruginosa, P. mirabilis and for antifungal activity against C. albicans. Ciprofloxacin and fluconazole were used as reference for antibacterial and antifungal activities of the complexes, respectively. In most cases, the complexes tested showed considerable activity on S. aureus especially, which is a Gram positive bacterium. In addition, the Hg(II) and Ag(I) complexes were found to have superior activity toward all of the microorganisms whereas the Pd(II) and Cd(II) complexes showed considerably antimicrobial effect on S. aureus and C. albicans selectively