Candida is the most common fungal class, causing both superficial and invasive diseases in humans. Although Candida albicans is the most common cause of fungal infections in humans, C. auris is a new emergent serious pathogen causing complications similar to those of C. albicans. Both C. albicans and C. auris are associated with high mortality rates, mainly because of their multidrug-resistance patterns against most available antifungal drugs. Although several compounds were designed against C. albicans, very few or none were tested on C. auris. Therefore, it is urgent to develop novel effective antifungal drugs that can accommodate not only C. albicans, but also other Candida spp., particularly newly emergent one, including C. auris. Inspired by the significant broad-spectrum antifungal activities of the essential oil cuminaldehyde and the reported wide incorporation of azoles in the antifungal drugs, a series of compounds (UoST1-11) was designed and developed. The new compounds were designed to overcome the toxicity of the aldehyde group of cuminaldehyde and benefit from the antifungal selectivity of azoles. The new developed UoST compounds showed significant anti-Candida activities against both Candida species. The best candidate compound, UoST5, was further formulated into polymeric nanoparticles (NPs). The new formula, UoST5-NPs, showed similar activities to the nanoparticles-free drug, while providing only 25% release after 24 h, maintainng prolonged activity up to 48 h and affording no toxicity. In conclusion, new azole formulations with significantly enhanced activities against C. albicans and C. auris, while maintaining prolonged action and no toxicities at lower concentrations, were developed.
Candida是最常见的真菌类,会引起人类表浅和侵袭性疾病。虽然白念珠菌是人类真菌感染最常见的原因,但C. auris是一种新兴的严重病原体,引起的并发症类似于白念珠菌。白念珠菌和C. auris都与高死亡率相关,主要是因为它们对大多数可用抗真菌药物表现出多药耐药性。尽管设计了几种针对白念珠菌的化合物,但很少或没有对C. auris进行测试。因此,迫切需要开发新型有效的抗真菌药物,不仅可以适应白念珠菌,还可以适应其他念珠菌种,特别是新兴种,包括C. auris。受精油香茴醛的显著广谱抗真菌活性和已报道的氮唑类药物在抗真菌药物中的广泛应用的启发,设计和开发了一系列化合物(UoST1-11)。新化合物的设计旨在克服香茴醛醛基的毒性,并从氮唑类药物的抗真菌选择性中获益。新开发的UoST化合物显示出显著的抗念珠菌活性,对两种念珠菌种都有效。最佳候选化合物UoST5进一步制成聚合物纳米颗粒(NPs)。新配方UoST5-NPs显示出与无纳米颗粒药物相似的活性,同时在24小时后仅释放25%,保持长效活性长达48小时,并不产生毒性。总之,开发了新的氮唑类配方,对白念珠菌和C. auris的活性显著增强,同时在较低浓度下保持长效作用且无毒性。