Due to limited numbers of antifungal drugs and emergence of drug resistance have directed to develop nonconventional therapeutic agents against fungal pathogen Candida albicans. In this study, anticandidal activity of chitosan silver nanocomposite (CAgNC) was tested against C. albicans Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) of CAgNC were determined as 25 and 100 μg/ml, respectively. Electron microscopic image results confirmed the ultrastructural cell wall deformities and injuries caused by CAgNC. Propidium iodide (PI) penetration into the CAgNC treated cells could be considered as an evidence for loss of cell membrane integrity and cell death at MFC. Level of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) was increased, while cell viability was decreased with the increased of CAgNC concentrations. In our protein profile results, several induced proteins were observed under CAgNC treatment, and they could be related to multidrug and stress resistant proteins such as CDR1 (55 kDa) and CaHSP70 based on the protein band size. CAgNC mediated cell wall damage, loss of cell membrane integrity, elevated ROS level, and associated oxidative stress have been identified as the main causative factors for the anticandidal activity. Overall results from our study indicated that CAgNC could affect negatively on physiological and biochemical functions of C. albicans suggesting CAgNC as a potential alternative for antifungal chemotherapy.
Keywords: Anticandidal activity; Candida albicans; chitosan silver nanocomposite; oxidative stress.
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