{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,14]],"date-time":"2026-10-14T04:23:28Z","timestamp":1791951808880,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,6,17]],"date-time":"2022-06-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1655424000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Patanjali Research Foundation Trust"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosntds.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS Negl Trop Dis"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Chronic topical cases of Sporotrichosis, a chronic fungal infection caused by the ubiquitously present cryptic members of the <jats:italic>Sporothrix<\/jats:italic> species complex, are treated with oral administrations of itraconazole. However, severe pulmonary or disseminated cases require repeated intra-venous doses of amphotericin B or even surgical debridement of the infected tissue. The unavoidable adverse side-effects of the current treatments, besides the growing drug resistance among <jats:italic>Sporothrix<\/jats:italic> genus, demands exploration of alternative therapeutic options. Medicinal herbs, due to their multi-targeting capacity, are gaining popularity amidst the rising antimicrobial recalcitrance. <jats:italic>Withania somnifera<\/jats:italic> is a well-known medicinal herb with reported antifungal activities against several pathogenic fungal genera. In this study, the antifungal effect of the whole plant extract of <jats:italic>W<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>somnifera<\/jats:italic> (WSWE) has been explored for the first time, against an itraconazole resistant strain of <jats:italic>S<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>globosa<\/jats:italic>. WSWE treatment inhibited <jats:italic>S<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>globosa<\/jats:italic> yeast form growth in a dose-dependent manner, with IC<jats:sub>50<\/jats:sub> of 1.40 mg\/ml. Minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) was found to be 50 mg\/ml. Sorbitol protection and ergosterol binding assays, revealed that anti-sporotrichotic effects of WSWE correlated well with the destabilization of the fungal cell wall and cell membrane. This observation was validated through dose-dependent decrease in overall ergosterol contents in WSWE-treated <jats:italic>S<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>globosa<\/jats:italic> cells. Compositional analysis of WSWE through high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) exhibited the presence of several anti-microbial phytochemicals like withanone, withaferin A, withanolides A and B, and withanoside IV and V. Withanone and withaferin A, purified from WSWE, were 10\u201320 folds more potent against <jats:italic>S<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>globosa<\/jats:italic> than WSWE, thus, suggesting to be the major phytocompounds responsible for the observed anti-sporotrichotic activity. In conclusion, this study has demonstrated the anti-sporotrichotic property of the whole plant extract of <jats:italic>W<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>somnifera<\/jats:italic> against <jats:italic>S<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>globosa<\/jats:italic> that could be further explored for the development of a natural antifungal agent against chronic Sporotrichosis.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0010484","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,6,17]],"date-time":"2022-06-17T17:25:35Z","timestamp":1655486735000},"page":"e0010484","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pntd.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":13,"title":["Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal whole-plant extracts exhibited anti-sporotrichotic effects by destabilizing peripheral integrity of Sporothrix globosa yeast cells"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Acharya","family":"Balkrishna","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sudeep","family":"Verma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Vallabh Prakash","family":"Mulay","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ashish 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