Antifungal Efficacy of Marine Macroalgae against Fungal Isolates from Bronchial Asthmatic Cases

Abstract

Fungal sensitization is very common in bronchial asthmatic cases, and the connection with airway colonization by fungi remains uncertain. Antifungal therapy failure is a significant fraction of the cost and morbidity and mortality in the majority of the asthmatic cases. Hence, the present study aimed to investigate the antifungal activity of five marine macroalgae-Acanthaophora specifera, Cladophoropsis sp., Laurencia paniculata, Tydemania sp., and Ulva prolifera-which were tested on selected fungal pathogens isolated from 15 sputum of 45 bronchial asthmatic patients. The highest antifungal activity was observed in ethanol fractions of L. paniculata followed by U. prolifera, Cladophoropsis sp., A. specifera, and Tydemania sp. The minimum fungicidal concentration and minimum inhibitory concentration values of the ethanolic fractions of algal species were found to be 125⁻1000 µg/mL and 125⁻500 µg/mL, respectively. The algal extracts contained terpene alcohol, diterpene, steroids, sesquiterpene, and sesquiterpene alcohol, as determined by GC⁻MS/MS analyses. The present study shows that the marine macroalgae containing bioactive compounds had excellent inhibitory activity against a variety of fungal pathogens, which may be useful for combating fungal infections and recovering from chronic asthmatic states.

Keywords: bronchial asthma; ethanolic fractions; fungal isolates; fungicidal actions; macroalgae.

Figure 1

(a) Total immunoglobulin E (IgE), sensitization, and allergic reactions of asthmatic cases; (b) isolated fungal species from asthmatic cases; (c) microscopical characterization of fungus with lactophenol cotton blue mount: A, Aspergillus niger; B, aseptate hyphae and young conidiophores of Mucor sp; C, Paecilomyces sp.; D, germination tube test positivity of Candida albicans. Results are means ± SD. The letter a above the average bar denotes a significant difference with the normal at p < 0.05 using Tukey’s test.

Figure 2

GC–MS/MS chromatogram formed by ethanolic fractions of Laurencia paniculata. The 436-GC Bruker model coupled with a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer was used to study the chemical composition of the ethanolic fractions of the two plants. The MS Workstation 8 and the library database of National Institute Standard and Technology (NIST Version 11.0) were used for the identification of the chemical components.

Figure 3

GC–MS/MS chromatogram formed by ethanolic fractions of Ulva prolifera. The 436-GC Bruker model coupled with a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer was used to study the chemical composition of the ethanolic fractions of the two plants. The MS Workstation 8 and the library database of National Institute Standard and Technology (NIST Version 11.0) were used for the identification of the chemical components.

Figure 4

Aerial view of marine macroalgae collected from the rocky shore of Red sea coasts of Yanbu, Saudi Arabia.