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The Potential of Medicinal Plants as Treatments for Infections Caused by Aspergillus spp.
Published in Namrita Lall, Medicinal Plants for Cosmetics, Health and Diseases, 2022
Tefo K. Pule, Marco N. De Canha, Namrita Lall, Quenton Kritzinger
Aspergillus spp. are primarily transmitted through inhalation of the conidia. They begin to infect epithelial cells in several ways, targeting damaged cells. For the fungus to establish an infection, it must evade recognition by the immune system, which is achieved through alterations of the β-1,3 glucan and chitin with different molecules (Hernández-Chávez et al., 2017). A weakened immune system generally fails to recognize the fungi. Fumagillin and gliotoxin are compounds produced by the fungi and are known to be involved in the pathogenicity of the fungi (Dagenais and Keller, 2009).
Marine Fungi-Derived Secondary Metabolites: Potential as Future Drugs for Health Care
Published in Hafiz Ansar Rasul Suleria, Megh R. Goyal, Health Benefits of Secondary Phytocompounds from Plant and Marine Sources, 2021
Syed Shams Ul Hassan, Hui-Zi Jin, Abdur Rauf, Saud Bawazeer, Hafiz Ansar Rasul Suleria
An alkaloid gliotoxin (image 37 in Figure 8.3) was isolated from the marine fungus (Aspergillus sp.) that was obtained from the marine sediment collected from an Indian ocean from the depth of 4530 m. The compound (37) was isolated by liquid rotary fermentation based on OSMAC technique to get different compounds; and it was evaluated for pharmacological activities, such as anti-tubercular, antibacterial, and cytotoxic. The compound (37) displayed potent anti-tubercular activity against Mycobacterium Tuberculosis with MIC50 value of 0.030 μM. Moreover, the anti-tubercular efficacy in terms of inhibition was superior to positive control INH suggesting that Sulphur-bridge may improve the efficacy. The compound (37) also exhibited significant selective in vitrocytotoxicity against A549, K562, and Huh-7 cell lines with IC50 values of 0.015, 0.191, and 95.4 μM, respectively. Additionally, deep-sea-derived fungus Aspergillus sp. SCSIO Ind09F01 exhibited moderate antibacterial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative microorganisms, such as S. aureus, E. coli and Salmonella [37].
Aspergillosis and Mucormycosis
Published in Rebecca A. Cox, Immunology of the Fungal Diseases, 2020
Alayn R. Waldorf, Richard D. Diamond
Several immunomodulating culture supernatants have been identified from A. fumigatus. Gliotoxin appears to be a potent immunosuppressive agent in vitro with action on macrophages and antigen-presenting cells. Gliotoxin inhibits phagocytosis of peritoneal macrophages in a serum-free medium.148,149 In addition, spleen cells and peritoneal macrophages, when treated with gliotoxin, lose their ability to induce alloreactive-cytotoxic T cells. Macromolecular synthesis in T and B lymphoblasts and cell proliferation appear unaffected by gliotoxin. A substance that inhibits the opsonization of fungal cells by normal human serum has also been found in supernatants from A. fumigatus and A. flavus.150 This substance interferes with complement (C3b)-dependent monocyte phagocytosis of fungal conidia and appears to either inhibit activation of the alternative complement pathway or interfere with uptake of C3b onto fungi.150 There was no effect on monocytes alone that were preincubated in the complement-inhibitory factor, suggesting that monocyte-complement receptors were not affected. The in vivo production of either of these immunosuppressive fungal metabolites could compromise host defense mechanisms and thus lead to exacerbation of aspergillosis in an already compromised host.
Improving the rates of Aspergillus detection: an update on current diagnostic strategies
Published in Expert Review of Anti-infective Therapy, 2019
Jeffrey D. Jenks, Helmut J. F. Salzer, Martin Hoenigl
Other approaches for mycological detection of IA include the detection of volatile organic compounds in exhaled air, which may allow for detection of a fungal secondary metabolite signature to diagnose IA [94]. Another proposed blood biomarker is bis(methylthio)gliotoxin. Bis(methylthio)gliotoxin is an inactive derivative of gliotoxin, a fungal secondary metabolite that has attracted great interest due to its high biological activity [95]. Both approaches will require external validation before they can be implemented into clinical routine.