مشخصات پژوهش

Resistance to synthetic antifungals has become one of the leading public health challenges around the world. Accor dingly, no vel antifungal products like naturally occurring molecules can be one of the potential ways to reach efficient curati v e appr oaches to control candidiasis. This work evaluated the effect of menthol on cell surface hydrophobicity (CSH), biofilm formation, growth, and ergosterol content of Candida glabrata , a yeast with a high resistance against antifungal agents. Disc diffusion method (susceptibility to synthetic antifungals), br oth micr o-dilution method (Susce ptibility to menthol), 3-(4,5-dimeth ylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphen yl tetrazolium br omide r eduction assay (biofilm formation), High-performance liquid c hromatogr aphy (HPLC) tec hnique (ergosterol content), and adherence to n -hexadecane (CSH) were employed to determine the influence of menthol against C. glabrata isolates. The minimum inhibitory concentr ation (MIC) r ange of menthol v ersus C. glabrata w as 1250–5000 μg/mL (mean ± SD: 3375 ± 1375 μg/mL). The mean rate of C. glabrata biofilm formation w as decr eased up to 97.67%, 81.15%, 71.21%, 63.72%, 47.53%, 26.31%, and 0.051% at 625, 1250, 2500, 5000, 10 000, 20 000, and 40 000 μg/mL concentrations, r especti v el y. The percenta ges of CSH wer e significant in gr oups tr eated with MIC/2 (17.51 ± 5.52%) and MIC/4 (26 ± 5.87%) concentrations of menthol. Also, the percentage changes in membrane ergosterol were 15.97%, 45.34%, and 73.40% at 0.125, 0.25, and 0.5 mg/mL concentrations of menthol, r especti v el y, in comparison with untr eated contr ol. The r esults showed the menthol impact versus sessile and planktonic C. glabrata cells, and the interference with ergosterol content, CSH, and biofilm formation, which made it a potent natural antifungal.