Combination of CuO nanoparticles and fluconazole: preparation, characterization, and antifungal activity against Candida albicans

Autor: Daniel Panitz, Michal Maoz, Iris S. Weitz, Sigal Eichler, Ester Segal
Rok vydání: 2015
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Nanoparticle Research. 17
ISSN: 1572-896X
1388-0764
DOI: 10.1007/s11051-015-3149-4
Popis: Combination therapy becomes an important strategy in the management of invasive fungal infections and emergence of resistant fungi mutants. In this work, we examine the combination of copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles (NPs) with fluconazole as potential treatment against the pathogenic fungi, Candida albicans. CuO NPs (~7 nm in size) were synthesized with acetate ligands assembled on their surface, as shown by both thermal gravimetric analysis and FTIR spectroscopy. Unlike the commercial CuO (both bulk and 50 nm particles), that are poorly dispersed in water, the interaction with water allows the fine dispersion of the coated CuO NPs and their excellent colloidal stability. The addition of fluconazole to the aqueous CuO dispersion induced spontaneous self-assembly of the NPs into linear pearl-like chains network, shown by cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM). The antifungal activity of the CuO NPs and their combination with fluconazole (fluconazole–CuO NPs) was studied against C. albicans. The best MIC values were obtained at concentrations as low as 0.2 and 0.3 mg/mL, respectively. The results suggest that fluconazole–CuO NPs can provide a potential alternative treatment for C. albicans infections.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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