Mechanism and bioinformatics analysis of the effect of berberine-enhanced fluconazole against drug-resistant Candida albicans

Biofilms produced by Candida albicans present a challenge in treatment with antifungal drug.

Enhancing the sensitivity to fluconazole (FLC) is a reasonable method for treating FLC-resistant species.

Moreover, several lines of evidence have demonstrated that berberine (BBR) can have antimicrobial effects.

The aim of this study was to clarify the underlying mechanism of these effects.

We conducted a comparative study of the inhibition of FLC-resistant strain growth by FLC treatment alone, BBR treatment alone, and the synergistic effect of combined FLC and BBR treatment.

Twenty-four isolated strains showed distinct biofilm formation capabilities.

The antifungal effect of combined FLC and BBR treatment in terms of the growth and biofilm formation of Candida albicans species was determined via checkerboard, time-kill, and fluorescence microscopy assays.

The synergistic effect of BBR and FLC downregulated the expression of the efflux pump genes CDR1 and MDR , the hyphal gene HWP1 , and the adhesion gene ALS3 ; however, the gene expression of the transcriptional repressor TUP1 was upregulated following treatment with this drug combination.

Furthermore, the addition of BBR led to a marked reduction in cell surface hydrophobicity.

To identify resistance-related genes and virulence factors through genome-wide sequencing analysis, we investigated the inhibition of related resistance gene expression by the combination of BBR and FLC, as well as the associated signaling pathways and metabolic pathways.

The KEGG metabolic map showed that the metabolic genes in this strain are mainly involved in amino acid and carbon metabolism.

The metabolic pathway map showed that several ergosterol (ERG) genes were involved in the synthesis of cell membrane sterols, which may be related to drug resistance.

In this study, BBR + FLC combination treatment upregulated the expression of the ERG1 , ERG3, ERG4, ERG5, ERG24 , and ERG25 genes and downregulated the expression of the ERG6 and ERG9 genes compared with fluconazole treatment alone ( p  < 0.05).