Cunninghamella bertholletiae (C. bertholletiae) is an opportunistic fungal organism and a rare cause of the mucormycosis, a prevalent fungal infection in immune-comprised hosts. Due to the difficulty of treating mucormycosis caused by C. bertholletiae, the identification and discovery of new antifungals is important. The extensive experience and expertise of our scientists enable Creative Biolabs to provide pharmaceutical antifungal drug discovery services across the entire spectrum of the drug discovery process.
Introduction to C. bertholletiae
C. bertholletiae is a species of zygomycetous fungi in the order Mucorales. It is mainly soil fungi of the Mediterranean and subtropical zones. It typically displays a saprotrophic lifestyle. Among the Cunninghamella species, C. bertholletiae is the only human and animal pathogen that cause mucormycosis predominantly in immunosuppressed hosts. The predominant mode of acquisition of C. bertholletiae infections is presumed to be via the respiratory tract. Besides, although less common, percutaneous inoculation of C. bertholletiae has also been described. The most common underlying conditions described for patients with C. bertholletiae infections are leukemia, diabetes, nonmalignant hematological diseases, deferoxamine-based therapy, etc.
Fig. 1 C. bertholletiae. (Gupta, 2011)
Pathogenesis of C. bertholletiae
Because C. bertholletiae is ubiquitous and can infect a wide variety of human tissue types, it exhibits hyphal growth in the body. Under proper conditions, it can grow very aggressively and destroy tissue structure, causing angioinvasion and thrombosis. In addition, C. bertholletiae has been shown to be more capable of suppressing interleukin-8 (IL-8) release and increasing tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) release from human neutrophils than Rhizopus spp. Besides, C. bertholletiae displays greater in vitro resistance to the iron chelator deferasirox than Rhizopus spp. These characteristics of C. bertholletiae have made it difficult to promptly and accurately diagnose mycoses caused by this fungus, and more difficult to treat with antifungals than infections with other species of the Mucorales.
Antifungal Agents against C. bertholletiae
Traditionally, the gold standard of antifungal-based therapy for C. bertholletiae infections is conventional amphotericin B. However, lipid formulations are preferred for treatment because the high dosage required can have significant renal toxicity. The lack of new, efficient, and non-toxic antifungals highlights the urgent need for antifungal drug discovery against C. bertholletiae.
Features of our Services
Creative Biolabs is specialized in assisting pharmaceutical clients with every stage of the antifungal drug discovery services, including target identification and validation, Hit identification, Hit to lead, Lead optimization, and IND enabling. By working with us, our clients can take advantage of a seamless and integrated approach to antifungal drug discovery. You can benefit from:
Other fungi that are implicated in mucormycosis include:
As an innovative and truly premier drug discovery and development research partner, Creative Biolabs is committed to providing the best quality services and high level of specialized support to satisfy the rapidly growing interest in the antifungal drug discovery field. Please contact us for more information.
References
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