Coptis alkaloids show potent antifungal activity against Trichophyton rubrum (T. rubrum), which was a Tinea pedis fungus, but little of the literature was reported to investigate the antifungal activity of magnoflorine against it. Meanwhile, the potential mechanism of magnoflorine against T. rubrum is unknown. In the present study, we found that Coptis alkaloids, especially magnoflorine had significant antifungal activities against T. rubrum and Trichophyton mentagrophyte (T. mentagrophyte). The MIC values of magnoflorine against T. rubrum and T. mentagrophyte were both 62.5 μg ml⁻¹, but magnoflorine exerted a better fungicidal efficiency against T. rubrum than T. mentagrophyte. Magnoflorine inhibited the conidia germination and hyphal growth, and changed the mycelial morphology such as deformation growth, surface peeling, and cytoplasmic contraction in T. rubrum. Magnoflorine had no significant effect on cell wall integrity. However, magnoflorine destroyed the fungal cell membrane of T. rubrum through increasing the nucleic acid leakage, reducing the activities of squalene epoxidase and CYP51 enzyme, and decreasing the content of ergosterol in hyphae. Our study supported the potential use of magnoflorine as an antifungal agent against T. rubrum and made contributions to the clinical application of magnoflorine against fungi.

黄连生物碱对红色毛癣菌 (T. rubrum)显示出有效的抗真菌活性，红色毛癣菌是一种足癣真菌，但很少有文献报道研究木兰素对它的抗真菌活性。同时，木兰素对抗红色毛癣菌的潜在机制尚不清楚。在本研究中，我们发现黄连生物碱，尤其是木兰素对红色毛癣菌和须癣毛癣菌（T. mentagrophyte）具有显着的抗真菌活性。木兰素对红色T. rubrum和T. mentagrophyte的MIC值为62.5 μg ml ^-1，但木兰素对T. rubrum和T. mentagrophyte的杀真菌效果更好。T. rubrum比T. mentagrophyte。木兰花碱抑制孢子萌发和菌丝生长，并改变了菌丝形态如变形增长，表面剥离，并且在细胞质收缩红色发癣菌。Magnoflorine 对细胞壁完整性没有显着影响。然而，木兰素通过增加核酸泄漏，降低角鲨烯环氧化酶和CYP51酶的活性，降低菌丝中麦角甾醇的含量，破坏了红色T. rubrum的真菌细胞膜。我们的研究支持木兰素作为抗红色毛癣菌的抗真菌剂的潜在用途，并为木兰素抗真菌的临床应用做出了贡献。