Characterizing effects of antioxidants on fluconazole resistance in Cryptococcus neoformans

Cryptococcus neoformans is a pathogenic fungus that causes lung dysfunction in immunocompromised patients. The antifungal drug Fluconazole (FLC) could contribute towards increasing levels of oxidative stress in C. neoformans. Recent research shows that Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is effective at rescuingthe fungus Candida albicans by lowering the oxidative stress applied by fluconazole. The purpose of our research is to investigate the role of other antioxidants in counteracting oxidative stress in C. neoformans. We tested whether vitamin C (control), resveratrol, lutein, rutin, glutathione (GSH), and alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) could counteract oxidative stress in C. neoformans during treatment with fluconazole. Our results indicate that vitamin C can rescue fluconazole-mediated inhibition of cell growth in C. neoformans, while the remaining anti-oxidants do not show significant rescue of cell growth due to fluconazole treatment