González GM, Valdés ME, Freitas CG, Menéndez AA, López AC, San Juan GJ, Campos DS, Luiz FO, Otero GA

Language: Spanish
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Page: 1-15
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ABSTRACT

Introduction: therapy for infectious disease has been hampered by the appearance of emerging and re-emerging pathogens which are often resistant to conventional antibiotics. This has led to an increase in the search for new therapeutic agents. Antimicrobial peptides are a promising alternative in this respect, due to their broad spectrum of activity against several pathogenic microorganisms. One of the peptides reported is Cm-p5, which has been characterized structurally and functionally as displaying activity against pathogenic fungi in humans, particularly against Candida albicans. Objective: present a complementary characterization of the antifungal peptide Cm-p5 in terms of its hemolytic activity, cytotoxicity, and fungicidal or fungistatic action. Methods: an assay was conducted for hemolytic activity of peptide Cm-p5 and another for cytotoxicity against cell line RAW 264.7. Additionally, an experiment was performed to evaluate its antifungal effect against C. albicans, comparing its antifungal activity with that of peptide LL-37, and aligning its sequence with those of other antimicrobial peptides. Results: it was found that Cm-p5 does not display significant hemolysis at concentrations close to its minimum inhibitory concentration, and that it is not cytotoxic at the concentrations evaluated. Peptide Cm-p5 was also found to have a fungistatic effect on the growth of C. albicans at concentrations of 10-40 μg/mL, its antifungal activity being less potent than that of peptide LL-37. Additionally, it was shown to have conserved regions with respect to other antimicrobial peptides. Conclusions: the study complements the characterization of Cm-p5 as a promising candidate for the treatment of human mycoses, particularly candidiasis.