Candida albicans and C. dubliniensis are commensals of the gastrointestinal and
genitourinary tract in healthy individuals. However, in diseased individuals they can
cause superficial infections to deep seated mycoses. Both species form mycelial
networks called biofilms, and formation of biofilms results in increased resistance
towards antifungal compounds currently in use. Therefore, there is a need for
alternative antifungal compounds such as fatty acids. Research has shown that
supplementation of growth medium with polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), increased
the unsaturation index and made cells susceptible to lipid peroxidation and cell death.
During this study this phenomenon was evaluated on biofilms of C. albicans and C.
dubliniensis using selected PUFAs. Due to differences in the carbon chain length and
saturation of fatty acids, they interact differently with the cell membrane and will have
different peroxidisability values. The results from the study showed C18:4 n-3 and
C20:5 n-3 were taken in by the cell and resulted in increased unsaturation index. The
results further indicated oxidative stress-induced apoptosis following supplementation
with C18:4 n-3 and C20:5 n-3 in biofilms of both C. albicans and C. dubliniensis. The
induction of apoptosis following supplementation by C18:4 n-3 and C20:5 n-3 was
confirmed by mitochondrial membrane potential assay, Annexin V-FITC staining,
TUNEL assay and DAPI staining. The use of C18:4 n-3 in synergism with amphotericin
B resulted in decreased dosage of the antifungal compound needed to inhibit biofilms of
C. albicans and C. dubliniensis.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufs/oai:etd.uovs.ac.za:etd-08162012-112114 |
| Date | 16 August 2012 |
| Creators | Thibane, Vuyisile Samuel |
| Contributors | Mr R Ells, Prof PWJ van Wyk, Prof JLF Kock, Dr CH Pohl |
| Publisher | University of the Free State |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en-uk |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.uovs.ac.za//theses/available/etd-08162012-112114/restricted/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University Free State or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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