Exposure of Candida to p-anisaldehyde inhibits its growth and ergosterol biosynthesis

Abstract

p-Anisaldehyde (4-methoxybenzaldehyde), an extract from Pimpinella anisum seeds, is a very common digestive herb of north India. Antifungal activity of p-anisaldehyde was investigated on 10 fl uconazole-resistant and 5 fl uconazole-sensitive Candida strains. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC 90) ranged from 250 μg/ml to 600 μg/ml for both sensitive and resistant strains. Ergosterol content was drastically reduced by p-anisaldehyde-62% in sensitive and 66% in resistant strains-but did not corelate well with MIC90 values. It appears that p-anisaldehyde exerts its antifungal effect by decreasing NADPH routed through up-regulation of putative aryl-alcohol dehydrogenases. Cellular toxicity of p-anisaldehyde against H9c2 rat cardiac myoblasts was less than 20% at the highest MIC value. These fi ndings encourage further development of p-anisaldehyde.