Virginia Research Day 2025

Medical Student Research Biomedical

23 Dragons Blood: Investigating the Antimicrobial Effects on Respiratory Fungi and its Stimulatory Effects

Shantanu Rastogi*; S. Grant Carter*; Antonio Balducci; Romina Boortalary; James Lee; Sohum Patel; James Mahaney, PhD; Teresa Johnson, PhD Corresponding author: srastogi@vcom.edu

Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine - Virginia Campus

the sap for varying times of 2-48 hours. Following treatment, culture supernatants will be removed and clarified, and the cell-free supernatants will be stored at -20 deg C until assay. Immune mediators in the supernatants including interferon-a, interleukin 8, and interleukin 17 will be measured by enzyme immunoassay. The proposed mechanism for the antimicrobial activity of the sap in an infected host could be due to the recruitment of polymorphonuclear cells (PMNs) and other inflammatory cytokines. In the future, we hope to explore the effects and mechanisms against several viral species. After establishing antifungal activity, we hope to establish an in vitro infection system by co-incubating fungi with respiratory epithelial cells.

Dragon’s Blood is a red/orange sap found in 4 different genera of trees commonly located in South America, Africa, and Asia, specifically Croton, Dracaena, Daemonorops, and Pterocarpus. The sap is a common household item used by many indigenous tribes to prevent excess bleeding after injuries. Alongside its hemostatic properties, Dragon’s blood has also been found to have antibacterial and antiviral effects. However, its antifungal implications remain largely unknown. In this study, we aim to study the antifungal effects of Dragon’s Blood, specifically on the Candida albicans, Candida auris , and Aspergillus fumigatus organisms. We hypothesize that the sap’s inherent properties against bacterial and viral agents will also extend to fungal species. For the experiments, it is predicted that the addition of Dragon’s blood will reduce pathogen growth by either fungicidal or fungistatic mechanisms.

Stocks of Candida albicans, C. auris, and Aspergillus fumigatus will be grown using Sabouraud dextrose medium. To examine the antifungal properties of the sap, serial dilutions of the sap will be created in Sabouraud dextrose broth in culture tubes. Fungi will be added, 2 x 10 5 particles/tube in 0.1 ml, and the tubes will be incubated for 4 days at 25 deg C with shaking. Fungal replication will be evaluated by densitometry, measuring optical density (600 nm) of each sample after incubation. The inhibition of growth will be compared to the control culture of fungus grown in Sabouraud dextrose media without sap. The ability of Dragon’s Blood sap to regulate expression of inflammatory mediators in human respiratory epithelium will be examined in parallel. Cells will be plated in 12-well plates to a density of 2 x 10 5 cells/well, then treated with serial dilutions of

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