Extracts of Trichocline sinuata (Asteraceae) as natural sensitizers in the photodynamic inactivation of Candida albicans

SCHIAVI, PAULINA CARDOSO; SVETAZ, LAURA; PETENATTI, ELISA; SORTINO, MAXIMILIANO; TEMPESTI, TOMAS C.; FUNES, MATÍAS

PHOTOCHEMISTRY AND PHOTOBIOLOGY

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2023

0031-8655

Despite significant progress in the development of phototherapy drugs, it is widelyrecognized that natural products remain the primary source of new photoactivecompounds. Exploring uncharted flora in the east-central region of Argentinamay offer a vast array of opportunities to isolate new photoactive molecules orplant extracts with high potential for use in antimicrobial photodynamic therapy(aPDT) against Candida albicans. To assess the photofungicidal potential ofT. sinuata (“contrayerba”) against C. albicans, the extracts underwent spectroscopicand chromatographic analysis, resulting in the identification of furanocoumarinmetabolites with similar spectrophotometric properties in all extracts. Theextract profiles were created using UHPLC-DAD, and seven furanocoumarins(FCs) were detected. The highest photoinactivation against C. albicans was observedfor dicholormethanic extracts (MFC = 62.5 μg/mL), equal to xanthotoxinemployed as a positive control. Furthermore, we determine that photochemicalmechanisms dependent on oxygen (type I and type II processes) and mechanismsindependent of oxygen (photoadduct formation) are involved in the death ofthese yeasts. These results support the use of native plants of the east-central regionof Argentina as potent sensitizers for aPDT and suggest that they can replacexanthotoxin in treating superficial yeast infections of the skin.