Green-mediated ZnO Nanoparticles Using Cichorium intybus (Dandelion) Extract: A Novel Antifungal Approach against Drug-Resistant Candida albicans

Microbial resistance to multiple antibiotics has evolved into a significant global health issue. Invasive candidiasis occurs among hospitalized patients when Candida infects the internal organs, like the kidney or brain, or bloodstream (also called candidemia). Improving treatment effectiveness for candidiasis and enhancing disease management will require a focus on essential preventive and therapeutic actions. Nanoparticles (NPs) represent a promising alternative solution, as they not only possess antimicrobial properties but can also serve as carriers for antibiotics and natural antimicrobial agents. In the current work, ZnO-NPs were biosynthesized using Dandelion (Cichorium intybus) extracts and characterized using XRD, UV-Vis, FT-IR, and SEM analyses. The bio-synthesized Dandelion ZnO-NPs showed IC50 of 72 and 97µg/mL and MIC of 23 and 73µg/mL, respectively, against two resistant C. albicans isolates, indicating its promising effect as compared to the commercial drugs Fluconazole, Tioconazole, and Terbinafine, which exhibited IC50 of 890-972µg/mL, 584-691µg/mL, and 501-556µg/mL. The cytotoxicity results on PBMCs normal cells clarified that the IC50 of ZnO-NPs was 25mg/mL; that means the ZnO-NPs are safe to be used against Candida albicans. The finding of this study suggests that green biosynthesis of ZnO-NPs is a promising source of potential antimicrobials and may be efficient as preventive agents in candidiasis diseases. The provided data can just enrich the existing comprehensive data on antimicrobial activity of NPs.