Inhibitory effects evaluation of Thymoquinone and Nanoliposome formulation against Candida parapsilosis isolates

Abstract Background: Candida parapsilosis as an opportunistic pathogen can cause various fungal infections, especially in immunocompromised patients. In the last few years, resistance to common antifungal drugs has been frequently reported and the aim of this study is design and synthesis of liposomal thymoquinone as an antifungal agent and evaluated the inhibitory effects on C. parapsilosis isolates. Materials and Methods: TQ was encapsulated in liposomal formulation by using a thin-film hydration technique and then were analyzed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), MTT assay was measured on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) for cell metabolic activity. The antifungal activity of TQ-Lip-NP against 15 clinical isolates of C. parapsilosis , was adjusted and examined based on the M27-A3 guideline. Results: TQ-Lip-NP didn’t show any toxic effect on PBMCs and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) range of free TQ and liposomal formulation with inhibitory effects on Candida isolates was between 50 to 6.25 µg/mL and 150 to 18.75, respectively the MIC50 and MIC90 values of free TQ and TQ-Lip-NP were also 25, 50, and 75, 150 µg/mL. Conclusion: Finally, we demonstrated the good efficacy of synthesized TQ-Lip-NP with significant antifungal activity against C. parapsilosis complex isolates compared to free TQ.