Anti-Fungal Activiy

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Destroying fungi or inhibiting their growth : fungicidal, fungistatic. Other Words from antifungal Example Sentences Learn More about antifungal.

The use of mushrooms as food is probably as old as civilization itself. Many species of medicinal mushrooms have been used in folk medicine for thousands of years. The use of medicinal mushrooms in folk medicine, is best documented in the East. International mushroom research continues today, with a focus on mushroom's that may have hypoglycemic activity, anti-cancer activity, anti-pathogenic activity, immune system enhancing activity, anti-bacterial and cholesterol lowering agents; additionally, they are important sources of bioactive compounds. As a result of these properties, some mushroom extracts are used to promote human health and are found as dietary supplements. In this topic, two mushroom extract in different concentrations for in vitro screening were used and found to be antagonistic against three fungal pathogens. So, the compound responsible for the activity can be separated and identified to exploit in the drugs used for the infections caused by the organisms.

The antifungal activities of monocytes and resident macrophages have been extensively studied. Macrophages from different species and different anatomic sites vary in their capacity to inhibit and kill fungi. For example, activated murine peritoneal macrophages have potent antifungal effects on C. neoformans. However, investigators have been mostly unsuccessful demonstrating antifungal activity of activated human macrophages. The L-arginine-dependent generation of nitric oxide by activated murine macrophages appears to be at least partly responsible for antifungal effects. Generation of microbicidal concentrations of nitric oxide has been difficult to demonstrate in human macrophages, which may help to explain why antifungal effects seen in mouse macrophages have not always been reproduced in human cells.

For most fungi that cause systemic disease, initial exposure occurs by inhalation of airborne spores or yeast cells. Bronchoalveolar macrophages are thought to constitute a particularly important component of the immune response to these fungi. In several studies bronchoalveolar macrophages have been found to have greater antifungal activity than, for example, peritoneal macrophages. In vitro, bronchoalveolar macrophages can kill the spores but not the hyphae of A. fumigatusNeutrophils, on the other hand, cannot kill ungerminated spores but can kill hyphae. In vivo, two lines of phagocyte defense may combine to prevent the establishment of infection. Spores that are not killed by resident bronchoalveolar macrophages will be susceptible to attack by recruited neutrophils. Bronchoalveolar macrophages have also been shown to prevent the phase transition of B. dermatitidis conidia (the inhaled form) into invasive yeasts, illustrating another mechanism whereby the establishment of infection may be prevented. Recently, some progress has been made in identifying the ligands and receptors involved in the binding of fungi by macrophages.

 

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Liza Parker
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Microbiology: Current Research
Email: aamcr@microbialjournals.com