Molecules 2010, 15(5), 3507-3516; doi:10.3390/molecules15053507
Article

Antifungal Effect of (+)-Pinoresinol Isolated from Sambucus williamsii

Bomi Hwang 1 email, Juneyoung Lee 1 email, Qing-He Liu 2 email, Eun-Rhan Woo 2 email and Dong Gun Lee 1,* email
1 School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, College of Natural Sciences, Kyungpook National University, 1370 Sankyuk-dong, Puk-ku, Daegu 702-701, Korea 2 College of Pharmacy, Chosun University, 375 Seosuk-dong, Dong-gu, Gwangju 501-759, Korea
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 9 April 2010; in revised form: 6 May 2010 / Accepted: 11 May 2010 / Published: 14 May 2010
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Anti-Infective Agents)
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Abstract: In this study, we investigated the antifungal activity and mechanism of action of (+)-pinoresinol, a biphenolic compound isolated from the herb Sambucus williamsii,used in traditional medicine. (+)-Pinoresinol displays potent antifungal properties without hemolytic effects on human erythrocytes. To understand the antifungal mechanism of (+)-pinoresinol, we conducted fluorescence experiments on the human pathogen Candida albicans. Fluorescence analysis using 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (DPH) indicated that the (+)-pinoresinol caused damage to the fungal plasma membrane. This result was confirmed by using rhodamine-labeled giant unilamellar vesicle (GUV) experiments. Therefore, the present study indicates that (+)-pinoresinol possesses fungicidal activities and therapeutic potential as an antifungal agent for the treatment of fungal infectious diseases in humans.
Keywords: (+)-pinoresinol; lignan; antifungal compound; membrane-active mechanism; Sambucus williamsii HANCE

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Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Hwang, B.; Lee, J.; Liu, Q.-H.; Woo, E.-R.; Lee, D.G. Antifungal Effect of (+)-Pinoresinol Isolated from Sambucus williamsii. Molecules 2010, 15, 3507-3516.

AMA Style

Hwang B, Lee J, Liu Q-H, Woo E-R, Lee DG. Antifungal Effect of (+)-Pinoresinol Isolated from Sambucus williamsii. Molecules. 2010; 15(5):3507-3516.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Hwang, Bomi; Lee, Juneyoung; Liu, Qing-He; Woo, Eun-Rhan; Lee, Dong Gun. 2010. "Antifungal Effect of (+)-Pinoresinol Isolated from Sambucus williamsii." Molecules 15, no. 5: 3507-3516.

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