Resveratrol lacks antifungal activity against Candida albicans

• DOI: 10.1007/s11274-012-1042-1
• Publication Date: 2012-03-29T11:25:35Z
• Authors: Mar Collado-González; José P. Guirao-Abad; Ruth Sánchez-Fres...; Sarai Belchí-Navarro; Juan-Carlos Argüe...
• Keywords: 0303 health sciences; 03 medical and health sciences; Antifungal Agents; Resveratrol; Candida albicans; Stilbenes; 3. Good health

The putative candicidal activity of resveratrol is currently a matter of controversy. Here, the antifungal activity as well as the antioxidant response of resveratrol against Candida albicans, have been tested in a set of strains with a well-established genetic background At the doses usually employed in antifungal tests (10-40 μg/ml), resveratrol has no effect on the exponential growth of the C. albicans CAI.4 strain, a tenfold increase (400 μg/ml) was required in order to record a certain degree of cell killing, which was negligible in comparison with the strong antifungal effect caused by the addition of amphotericin B (5 μg/ml). An identical pattern was recorded in the prototrophic strains of C. albicans SC5314 and RM-100, whereas the oxidative sensitive trehalose-deficient mutant (tps1/tps1 strain) was totally refractory to the presence of resveratrol. In turn, the serum-induced yeast-to-hypha transition remained unaffected upon addition of different concentrations of resveratrol. Determination of endogenous trehalose and catalase activity, two antioxidant markers in C. albicans; revealed no significant changes in their basal contents induced by resveratrol. Collectively, our results seem to dismiss a main antifungal role as well as the therapeutic application of resveratrol against the infections caused by C. albicans.