Determination of Ergosterol as a Potential Biomarker in Pathogenic Medically Important Fungal Isolates

Abstract

Ergosterol, a component of fungal cell membrane, has been frequently detected as an indicator of fungal presence and mass in environmental samples like soil. However, its detection in major pathogenic fungal species has not been investigated. In this study, the ergosterol contents of ten pathogenic fungal species were determined. Liquid chromatography was used for the detection and quantification of ergosterol extracted from fungal broth cultures. Results showed that ergosterol eluted as a single, well resolved peak in the chromatogram profiles of all tested fungi. Based upon relative amounts of ergosterol produced per fungal mycelial dry weight, three groups of fungal pathogens were identified, namely low ergosterol (Aspergillus niger, Candida albicans and Cryptococcus neoformans at 4.62, 6.29 and 7.08 µg/mg, respectively), medium ergosterol (Fusarium solani, Aspergillus fumigatus, Mucor sp., Penicillium sp., Cryptococcus gattii and Rhizopus sp. at 9.40, 10.79, 10.82, 11.38, 12.60 and 13.40 µg/mg, respectively), and high ergosterol (Candida tropicalis at 22.84 µg/ mg), producers. Ergosterol was not detectable in bacterial samples, which were included as controls. This first report on ergosterol detection in major pathogenic fungal species indicates that ergosterol may be used as a biomarker to diagnose invasive fungal infections in clinical samples. ABSTRAK Ergosterol, yang merupakan komponen membran sel fungus, seringkali dikesan sebagai petunjuk kehadiran dan jumlah fungus dalam sampel daripada persekitaran. Walau bagaimanapun, pengesanan ergosterol dalam fungus patogen utama belum dikaji. Dalam kajian ini, kandungan ergosterol dalam sepuluh spesies fungus patogen telah ditentukan. Kaedah kromatografi cecair digunakan untuk mengesan kehadiran dan penentuan kuantiti ergosterol yang diekstrak daripada kultur kaldu fungus. Berdasarkan kuantiti relatif ergosterol yang terhasil pada miselia fungus (berat kering), tiga kumpulan dikenal pasti iaitu mengandungi, ergosterol rendah (Aspergillus niger, Candida albicans dan Cryptococcus neoformans pada 4.62, 6.29 dan 7.08 µg/mg masing-masing), ergosterol sederhana (Fusarium solani, Aspergillus fumigatus, Mucor sp., Penicillium sp., Cryptococcus gattii dan Rhizopus sp. pada 9.40, 10.79, 10.82, 11.38, dan ergosterol tinggi (Candida tropicalis pada 22.84 µg/mg). Ergosterol tidak dapat dikesan pada sampel bakteria yang digunakan sebagai kawalan. Laporan pertama pengesanan ergosterol pada fungus patogen utama ini, menunjukkan bahawa ergosterol mungkin boleh digunakan sebagai biomarker untuk pendiagnosan jangkitan fungus invasif dalam sampel klinikal. Kata kunci: HPLC; ergosterol; biomarker; patogenik; fungus JSKM16(2) 3.indd 15

cis-9-Hexadecenal, a Natural Compound Targeting Cell Wall Organization, Critical Growth Factor, and Virulence of Aspergillus fumigatus

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“…Upregulation of the gene expression is attributed in response to the development of any stress in the pathogen. 37 2.7. Total Proteome Analysis.…”