EFFECT OF B-ADRENERGIC RECEPTOR ANTAGONISTS ON CANDIDA ALBICANS BIOFILM FORMATION.

Lorena da Silveira Derengowski (UnB); Alex Pereira (UnB); Cynthia Kyaw (UnB); Ildinete Silva Pereira (UnB)

Biofilm formation is increasingly being recognized as an important phenomenon associated to Candida albicans pathogenesis. The first step on C. albicans biofilm formation occurs when cells adhere to a biotic or abiotic surface. This attachment is mediated by specific adhesins on the fungal surface, such as ALS1, ALS3 and HWP1. The next step is the synthesis of an extracellular matrix. C. albicans biofilms have been associated with profound clinical implications, mainly because the community-life style enhances the microorganism resistance to a wide spectrum of conventional antifungal agents. The difficulty in treating biofilm-associated infections emphasizes the importance of studying drugs that are active against its formation. In this context, we evaluated the effects of propranolol and metoprolol, normally used as beta-adrenergic receptor antagonists, in C. albicans biofilm formation. Here, we demonstrate that the cultivation of C. albicans yeast cells in the presence of more than 0.5 mM propranolol prevents hyphal development induced by fetal bovine serum. Additionally, propranolol and metoprolol inhibits C. albicans biofilm formation, as shown by MTT assay and scanning electron microscopy. Given that the adherence of microorganisms to a surface is the first step in the formation of most biofilms, we verified the effect of propranolol on the adherence of C. albicans cells on abiotic surface as well as on epithelial cells. The results show that propranolol inhibits the adherence of C. albicans cells on both surfaces. This inhibitory effect of propranolol on C. albicans adherence was demonstrated to be associated with a significantly decrease in hwp1, als3 and als1 expression. This work was supported by FAP-DF/CNPq.  L.S. Derengowski was supported by a fellowship from CNPq. ਀㰀倀㸀㰀⼀倀㸀㰀⼀昀漀渀琀㸀㰀⼀瀀㸀㰀戀爀㸀㰀戀㸀倀愀氀愀瘀爀愀猀ⴀ挀栀愀瘀攀㨀 㰀⼀戀㸀☀渀戀猀瀀㬀戀椀漀昀椀氀洀Ⰰ 䌀愀渀搀椀搀愀 愀氀戀椀挀愀渀猀Ⰰ 瀀爀漀瀀爀愀渀漀氀漀氀Ⰰ 戀ⴀ愀搀爀攀渀攀爀最椀挀 愀渀琀愀最漀渀椀猀琀㰀⼀琀搀㸀㰀⼀琀爀㸀㰀⼀琀愀戀氀攀㸀㰀⼀琀爀㸀㰀⼀琀搀㸀㰀⼀琀愀戀氀攀㸀㰀⼀戀漀搀礀㸀㰀⼀栀琀洀氀㸀