Estudo da atividade antifúrgica do timol frente ás cepas De cryptococcus neoformans.

Abstract

Cryptococcus neoformans is a yeast fungus found mainly in feces of pigeons, it is the causative agent of cryptococcosis, triggered due to fungus inhalation and dissemination to the central nervous system. It affects patients with compromised immunity. The treatment of choice is the administration of amphotericin B in combination with flucytosine, but due to resistance to existing therapies, and the side effects of prolonged use, researchers have analyzed the natural products seeking new therapies, and thymol is a very promising molecule And that has been presenting antimicrobial activity. The aim of this study was to investigate the antifungal activity of thymol against Cryptococcus neoformans strains and a possible mechanism of action. The determination of the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was done using the microdilution technique. The minimal fungicidal concentration (CFM) was performed by sowing 10 μL in which there was no turbidity of the well of the microdilution plate, on sabouraud dextrose agar, previously distributed in Petri dishes. The mode of action study was performed by the microdilution technique with thymol in the presence and absence of ergosterol and cholesterol. Thymol MICs ranged from 20 to 51 μg/mL, while CFM ranged from 40 to 101 μg/mL. In the presence of ergosterol, thymol MIC was 64 μg/mL and in the presence of cholesterol, MIC was 32 μg/mL for ICB-2601 and LM-39 strains. Based on the results obtained, thymol presented antifungal action and seems to interact with ergosterol and did not interact with cholesterol. But complementary studies are needed to look at the full effects.