Propolis Component Exhibits Antifungal Activity

Antifungal Chemical Compounds Identified Using a C. elegans Pathogenicity Assay
PLoS Pathogens, 2007 Feb 2;3(2):e18

There is an urgent need for the development of new antifungal agents. A facile in vivo model that evaluates libraries of chemical compounds could solve some of the main obstacles in current antifungal discovery.

We show that Candida albicans, as well as other Candida species, are ingested by Caenorhabditis elegans and establish a persistent lethal infection in the C. elegans intestinal track. Importantly, key components of Candida pathogenesis in mammals, such as filament formation, are also involved in nematode killing. We devised a Candida-mediated C. elegans assay that allows high-throughput in vivo screening of chemical libraries for antifungal activities, while synchronously screening against toxic compounds.

A screen of 1,266 compounds with known pharmaceutical activities identified 15 (approximately 1.2%) that prolonged survival of C. albicans-infected nematodes and inhibited in vivo filamentation of C. albicans.

Two compounds identified in the screen, caffeic acid phenethyl ester, a major active component of honeybee propolis, and the fluoroquinolone agent enoxacin exhibited antifungal activity in a murine model of candidiasis…