Candida albicans is considered as an opportunistic yeast fungus that is considered as the principal reason of dangerous invasive infections with high death rates. In this research, we were the first to mycosynthesize silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) from the rhizospheric fungus Penicillium griseofulvum (PG) cell-free filtrate (CFF) and examined their antifungal effectiveness alone or in combination with the antifungal Amphotericin B (PG-AgNPs/AMB) against C. albicans. A total of 155 fungal isolates, which were recovered from the rhizosphere soil of Reseda pentagyna, belonged to fifteen species represented by five different genera. PG-AgNPs were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), zeta potential, Xray diffraction (XRD), UV-Vis spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The disc diffusion assay presented the anti-candidal activity of PG-AgNPs against C. albicans with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 16 mu g/mL. Additionally, PG-AgNPs/AMB (16/32 mu g/mL) exhibited a potent synergistic antifungal activity with an inhibition zone of 27 mm. PGAgNPs/AMB (16/32 mu g/mL) completely inhibited morphogenesis and repressed the adherence and biofilm establishment of C. albicans by 91% and 87%, respectively. Interestingly, PGAgNPs/AMB suppressed the antioxidant-related enzymes in C. albicans by more than 80%. PGAgNPs/AMB displayed cytoplasm degeneration and damage of cell wall as examined by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Remarkably, PG-AgNPs did not show any signs of cytotoxicity on either primary mesenchymal stem cells or human gingival fibroblast cell line HGF1. In conclusion, we identified PG-AgNPs/AMB as an innovative therapeutic candidate for the treatment of candidiasis.

The recent emergence of drug-resistant microorganisms and the prevalence of cancer diseases are both presenting substantial global public health concerns. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have attracted significant attention and are increasingly employed in diverse biomedical applications as agents with antimicrobial and anticancer properties. The study herein focused on the biogenic synthesis of AgNPs employing the cell-free filtrate of the soil-derived bacterium Streptomyces pratensis as a reducing agent. AgNPs were characterized using UV-Vis, FTIR, FE-SEM, and TEM. The study assessed both the antibacterial and anticandidal modes of action, along with the potential anticancer properties of the biosynthesized AgNPs. The spherical, 17-44-nm biosynthesized AgNPs demonstrated strong antimicrobial and antibiofilm activities against pandrug-resistant (PDR) Gram-negative Klebsiella pneumoniae and pathogenic yeast Candida albicans, both of which were isolated from immunosuppressed patients. Dose-dependent interactions between the AgNPs and their anticancer activity were observed. The IC50 values of the AgNPs against the hepatocellular (HepG2) and colon carcinoma (HCT-116) cancer cell lines were approximately 16.5 mu g/mL and 11.5 mu g/mL, respectively. Furthermore, the antimicrobial mechanism of action of AgNPs revealed distinct leakage of sugar, DNA, and proteins from the cell membrane of both K. pneumoniae and C. albicans, as well as increased ROS generation. Moreover, the TEM micrographs depicted the distortion and damage experienced by the microbial cells after exposure to AgNPs. The findings of the current study suggest that biosynthesized AgNPs have the potential to serve as alternative therapeutic agents for combating drug-resistant K. pneumoniae, the yeast C. albicans, in addition to HepG2 and HCT-116 cells.