Enhancement of Commercial Antifungal Agents by Kojic Acid

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Jong H. Kim²  Perng-Kuang Chang³  Kathleen L. Chan²  Natália C. G. Faria¹  Noreen Mahoney²  Young K. Kim²  Maria de L. Martins¹ 

[1] Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical/CREM, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal; E-Mails:;Plant Mycotoxin Research Unit, Western Regional Research Center, USDA-ARS, 800 Buchanan St., Albany, CA 94710, USA; E-Mails:;Food and Feed Safety Research Unit, Southern Regional Research Center, USDA-ARS, 1100 Robert E. Lee Blvd., New Orleans, LA 70124, USA; E-Mail:

关键词: Kojic acid;    hydrogen peroxide;    amphotericin B;    strobilurin;    chemosensitization;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms131113867

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Natural compounds that pose no significant medical or environmental side effects are potential sources of antifungal agents, either in their nascent form or as structural backbones for more effective derivatives. Kojic acid (KA) is one such compound. It is a natural by-product of fungal fermentation commonly employed by food and cosmetic industries. We show that KA greatly lowers minimum inhibitory (MIC) or fungicidal (MFC) concentrations of commercial medicinal and agricultural antifungal agents, amphotericin B (AMB) and strobilurin, respectively, against pathogenic yeasts and filamentous fungi. Assays using two mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) mutants, i.e., sakAΔ, mpkCΔ, of Aspergillus fumigatus, an agent for human invasive aspergillosis, with hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) or AMB indicate such chemosensitizing activity of KA is most conceivably through disruption of fungal antioxidation systems. KA could be developed as a chemosensitizer to enhance efficacy of certain conventional antifungal drugs or fungicides.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2012 by the authors; licensee Molecular Diversity Preservation International, Basel, Switzerland.