Publications by authors named "Patricia de Souza Bonfim Mendonca"

Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the antifungal properties of hypericin when nanoencapsulated in P123 copolymer micelles, focusing on its photodynamic therapy (PDT) mechanisms.
  • Key methods include antifungal susceptibility tests to determine minimum fungicidal concentration, time-kill curves, and flow cytometry to analyze the internalization of the nanoencapsulation and the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS).
  • Results indicate that P123-Hyp maintains fungistatic activity for up to 24 hours, with evidence of necrotic cell death and disruption of the fungal plasma membrane through the activation of type II PDT pathways.
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Objectives: This systematic review was conducted to evaluate the applicability of the envelope (E) protein in the diagnosis of arboviruses.

Methods: This review was performed in accordance with the PRISMA statement. Five databases were explored (PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, EMBASE, and IEDB).

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Article Synopsis
  • Polymyxin B (PMB) is currently one of the few options to treat serious infections caused by drug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria, but resistance to PMB is emerging.
  • This study tests several chemical compounds, including 3,5-dinitrobenzoic acid derivatives and isoniazid-acylhydrazones, to see if they can enhance the effectiveness of PMB against resistant bacteria.
  • Results showed that DNH derivatives significantly improved PMB's activity against 80% of tested strains, allowing for effective treatment at much lower concentrations than PMB alone, suggesting they could be valuable in fighting resistant infections.
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Staphylococcus aureus is a global challenge to the clinical field and food industry. Therefore, the development of antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) has become one of the valuable methods to control this pathogen. The antibacterial activity of photoinactivation by erythrosine (Ery) against S.

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Staphylococcus aureus is one of the main etiological agents causing foodborne diseases, and the development of new antibacterial agents is urgent. This study evaluated the antibacterial activity and the possible mechanism of action of the 1,3,4-oxadiazole LMM6 against S. aureus.

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Background: Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women worldwide with limited treatment options. Artepillin C (3,5-diprenyl-4-hydroxycinnamic acid) is one of the main constituents of Brazilian propolis presenting different activities, including antitumoral effects against various types of cancer.

Objective: We evaluated the antitumoral potential and mechanisms of action of artepillin C against two distinct human breast cancer cell lines, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231, to explore a new therapeutic candidate.

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Introduction: The Trichophyton rubrum complex comprises the majority of dermatophyte fungi (DM) responsible for chronic cases of onychomycosis, which is treated with oral or topical antifungals. However, owing to antifungal resistance, alternative therapies, such as photodynamic therapy (PDT), are needed. This study investigated the frequency of the T.

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Background: Our previous proteomics data obtained from Candida albicans recovered after serial passage in a murine model of systemic infection revealed that Orf19.36.1 expression correlates with the virulence of the fungus.

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Background: Onychomycosis (OM) is a common nail plate disorder caused by dermatophyte molds, yeasts, and non-dermatophyte molds, which use keratin in the nail plate as an energy source. OM is characterized by dyschromia, increased nail thickness, subungual hyperkeratosis, and onychodystrophy, and is typically treated with conventional antifungals despite frequent reports of toxicity, fungal resistance, and OM recurrence. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) with hypericin (Hyp) as a photosensitizer (PS) stands out as a promising therapeutic modality.

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Biomaterials that effectively act in biological systems, as in treatment and healing of damaged or lost tissues, must be able to mimic the properties of the body's natural tissues in its various aspects (chemical, physical, mechanical and surface). These characteristics influence cell adhesion and proliferation and are crucial for the success of the treatment for which a biomaterial will be required. In this context, the electrospinning process has gained prominence in obtaining fibers of micro- and nanometric sizes from polymeric solutions aiming to produce scaffolds for tissue engineering.

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Considering the multifaceted and increasing application of photodynamic therapy (PDT), in recent years the antimicrobial employment of this therapy has been highlighted, because of the antiviral, antibacterial, antiparasitic, and antifungal activities that have already been demonstrated. In this context, research focussed on antimycological action, especially for treatment of superficial infections, presents promising growth due to the characteristics of these infections that facilitate PDT application as new therapeutic options are needed in the field of medical mycology. Among the more than one hundred classes of photosensitizers the antifungal action of hypericin (Hyp) stands out due to its ability to permeate the lipid membrane and accumulate in different cytoplasmic organelles of eukaryotic cells.

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Candida albicans is one of the major pathogens found in superficial and invasive infections. This fungus expresses several virulence factors and fitness attributes that are essential to the pathogenesis. In our previous study using a murine model of serial systemic candidiasis, virulence of the recovered C.

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Invasive aspergillosis is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality among invasive fungal infections. The search for new antifungal drugs becomes imperative when existing drugs are not able to efficiently treat these infections. Ebselen, is an organoselenium compound, already successfully approved in clinical trials as a repositioned drug for the treatment of bipolar disorder and prevention of noise-induced hearing loss.

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is the most common species isolated from nosocomial bloodstream infections. Due to limited therapeutic arsenal and increase of drug resistance, there is an urgent need for new antifungals. Therefore, the antifungal activity against and in vivo toxicity of a 1,3,4-oxadiazole compound (LMM6) was evaluated.

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Background: Yeasts of the Candida parapsilosis complex have frequently been reported as agents of fungal infection in Brazil and worldwide, most of the cases are related to hospital-acquired infection. C. parapsilosis is the third most common cause of candidemia, and the hands of hospital workers as well as hospital surfaces have been suggested as possible sources.

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The antifungal application of photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been widely explored. According to superficial nature of tinea capitis and the facility of application of light sources, the use of nanoencapsulated hypericin in P-123 associated with PDT (P123-Hy-PDT) has been a poweful tool to treat this pathology. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of P123-Hy-PDT against planktonic cells and in a murine model of dermatophytosis caused by Microsporum canis.

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Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) is a common vaginitis that affects women, especially in childbearing age, caused by Candida albicans in almost 80% of cases. Considering the limited drug arsenal available and the increasing fungal resistance profile, the search for new therapeutic sources with low toxicity and easy administration should be supported. Propolis has been used as a traditional medicine for multiple diseases, considering its particular composition and pharmaceutical properties that permits its wide applicability; it has also emerged as a potential antifungal agent.

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Candidiasis is one of the most common diseases that occur in the oral cavity, caused mainly by the species Candida albicans. Methylene blue (MB) has a potential for microbial photoinactivation and can cause the destruction of fungi when applied in Photodynamic Therapy (PDT). Mucoadhesive films are increasingly being studied as a platform for drug application due to their advantages when compared to other pharmaceutical forms.

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At present, cervical cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer among women worldwide with no effective treatment options. In this study we aimed to evaluate the efficacy of hypericin (HYP) encapsulated on Pluronic® P123 (HYP/P123) photodynamic therapy (PDT) in a comprehensive panel of human cervical cancer-derived cell lines, including HeLa (HPV 18-positive), SiHa (HPV 16-positive), CaSki (HPV 16 and 18-positive), and C33A (HPV-negative), compared to a nontumorigenic human epithelial cell line (HaCaT). Were investigated: (i) cell cytotoxicity and phototoxicity, cellular uptake and subcellular distribution; (ii) cell death pathway and cellular oxidative stress; (iii) migration and invasion.

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infections have become a serious public health problem with high mortality rates, especially in immunocompromised patients, since is the major opportunistic pathogen responsible for systemic or invasive candidiasis. Commercially available antifungal agents are restricted and fungal resistance to such drugs has increased; therefore, the development of a more specific antifungal agent is necessary. Using assays for antifungal activity, here we report that two new compounds of 1,3,4-oxadiazoles class (LMM5 and LMM11), which were discovered by methodologies as possible thioredoxin reductase inhibitors, were effective against .

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is the major pathogen isolated from nosocomial bloodstream infections, leading to higher mortality rates. Thus, due to its clinical relevance, studies aiming to understand host-pathogen interactions in infection are necessary. Therefore, we performed proteomic analysis using a murine model of serial systemic infection by to evaluate possible changes in the protein profile of the pathogen over time.

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Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) is a neglected disease present in Latin America with difficulty in treatment and occurrence of serious sequelae. Thus, the development of alternative therapies is imperative. In the current work, two oxadiazole compounds (LMM5 and LMM11) presented fungicidal activity against Paracoccidioides spp.

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Drug repositioning is the process of discovery, validation and marketing of previously approved drugs for new indications. Our aim was drug repositioning, using ligand-based and structure-based computational methods, of compounds that are similar to two hit compounds previously selected by our group that show promising antifungal activity. Through the ligand-based method, 100 compounds from each of three databases (MDDR, DrugBank and TargetMol) were selected by the Tanimoto coefficient, as similar to LMM5 or LMM11.

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Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM), caused by , is a systemic mycosis with granulomatous character and a restricted therapeutic arsenal. The aim of this work was to search for new alternatives to treat largely neglected tropical mycosis, such as PCM. In this context, the enzymes of the shikimate pathway constitute excellent drug targets for conferring selective toxicity because this pathway is absent in humans but essential for the fungus.

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Candida tropicalis has emerged as one of the major Candida non-C. albicans species, in terms of epidemiology and virulence. Despite its virulence, C.

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