Glabridin triggers over-expression of apoptosis inducing factor (AIF) gene in Candida albicans

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Candida albicans is a prevalent human fungal pathogen that can cause a wide spectrum of diseases, from superficial mucosal infections to systemic disorders, in patients with impaired immunity. Glabridin is a pyranoisoflavan originally extracted from root extract of Glycyrrhiza glabra. Glabridin can also mediate apoptosis in yeast cells by changing the mitochondrial membrane potential, activation of caspase-like proteases, and DNA cleavage. The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanism of action of glabridin in C. albicans. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Candida albicans ATCC14053 was applied as the standard strain. Total RNA was extracted from the isolate under glabridin-treated and untreated conditions. To evaluate the alternations in the apoptosis inducing factor (AIF) gene expression, real-time polymerase chain reaction (real-time -PCR) was performed, and the obtained data were analyzed using REST software. RESULTS: Expression of the AIF gene was represented as the ratio of expression relative to the reference gene. According to the REST(®) output, the expression of the AIF gene increased significantly (P<0.05) under the glabridin-treated condition. CONCLUSION: Our results suggested that glabridin may induce apoptosis through the caspase-independent route and might be considered as an anti-Candida agent.