Comparison of antifungal and cytotoxicity activities of titanium dioxide and zinc oxide nanoparticles with amphotericin B against different Candida species: In vitro evaluation

Abstract

Background: Candida species are known to cause serious fungal infections that produce cutaneous, mucosal, and systemic infections. Nowadays, mortality and morbidity candidiasis in immunocompromised patients have increased. Nanotechnology is a new world-known technology and includes particles ranging from about 1 to 100 nanometers. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antifungal and cytotoxicity activities of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2-NPs) and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) compared to amphotericin B (AmB) on different Candida spp in in vitro conditions. Methods: In the present study, susceptibility of different Candida species to TiO2-NPs and ZnO-NPs compared to AmB was determined by broth microdilution (BMD) and agar well diffusion methods. Cytotoxicity of TiO2-NPs and ZnO-NPs and amphotericin B was measured by MTT (3-(4, 5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-Diphenyltetrazolium Bromide) assay. Results: The results indicated that the TiO2-NPs and ZnO-NPs showed antifungal activities against pathogenic Candida spp. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) of TiO2-NP ranges against Candida spp. were 128-256 µg/mL and 256-512 µg/mL, respectively. The MIC and MFC values of ZnO-NPs were 64-128 µg/mL and 256-512 µg/mL, respectively. However, MICs and MFCs of AmB were 8-16 µg/mL and 16-32 µg/mL, respectively. The MTT assay results showed that the CC50% belonged to ZnO-NPs 706.2 μg/mL, for TiO2-NPs 862.1 μg/mL, and for AmB 70.19 μg/mL, respectively. Conclusion: Our findings showed that TiO2-NPs and ZnO-NPs had antifungal effects against all Candida species, yet the antifungal properties of TiO2-NPs and ZnO-NPs were significantly less than those of AmB. The CC50% of AmB was significantly lower than ZnO-NPs and TiO2-NPs.