an investigation of the inhibitory effects of dendrosomal nanocurcumin on candida albicans and systemic candidiasis in balb/c mice

Background and purpose: use of curcumin, as a promising antifungal agent, is considered an alternative treatmentfor fungal infections; however, the low solubility of this agent limits its efficacy. accordingly, in this study, we aimedto evaluate the in vitro and in vivo antifungal activities of dendrosomal nanocurcumin with improved solubility andbioavailability.materials methods: the in vitro antifungal activities of several candida species, including c. albicans, c. tropicalis,c. krusei, c. parapsilosis, and c. dubliniensis, were evaluated, using the broth microdilution method. in the in vivo study,different doses of nanocurcumin (5, 10, 20, and 40 mg/kg) were administered to mice with systemic c. albicans infectionvia intraperitoneal injection. all mice were euthanized at 20 days following the administration of different doses ofnanocurcumin. different organs were extracted for organ culture and histopathological investigation.results: based on the findings, 40 mg/kg of nanocurcumin significantly decreased the fungal load in the evaluatedorgans; the results were confirmed with histopathological examination. the kidney was found to be the most affectedorgan with the highest number of severe lesions. yeasts and pseudohyphae were observed in the blood vessels, kidney,and brain. also, yeasts were present in the liver, brain, lungs, and heart of the control group.conclusion: although curcumin is generally an excellent antifungal component, its nanosized form showed morepotent properties. based on the gathered data, dendrosomal nanocurcumin is an effective antifungal agent with goodefficacy against disseminated candidiasis. however, further studies are required to evaluate the effects of dendrosomalnanocurcumin on other fungal infections. also, this agent could be useful for the prevention of fungal infections, such ascandidiasis, particularly in highrisk patients