Anti-inflammatory and anti-thrombotic properties of lipid bioactives from the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana

In the present work the entomopathogenic fungus B. bassiana lipids were studied against the potent proinflammatory and thrombotic mediators implicated in several disorders, platelet-activating factor (PAF) and thrombin. Bioactivities of lipid extracts from B. bassiana cells and culture supernatants and of their lipid fractions separated by a one-step HPLC-analysis ere assessed against the PAF/Thrombin-induced aggregation of washed rabbit platelets. Lipid extracts from both cell-biomass and supernatant inhibited strongly PAF/Thrombinactivities and platelet-aggregation, exhibiting higher specificity against PAF. Similarly, HPLC-derived lipid-fractions of phenolics/glycolipids, Sphingomyelins and Phosphatidylcholines (PC) showed strong anti-PAF potency. PC PAF-like molecules exhibited the strongest antagonistic anti-PAF effects, while in higher amounts they agonistically inhibited PAF-activities. Some bioactive lipids with strong anti-PAF effects are exo-cellularly secreted in the culture media during fungal growth, while others are not. The presence of such lipid bioactives in B. bassiana with strong anti-inflammatory and anti-thrombotic properties, provide new perspectives and putative future applications for this entomopathogenic fungus.

Automated summary

In this study, the lipids of the entomopathogenic fungus B. bassiana were found to exhibit strong anti-inflammatory and anti-thrombotic effects, particularly against platelet-activating factor (PAF). Lipid fractions derived from phenolics/glycolipids, Sphingomyelins, and Phosphatidylcholines (PC) showed potent anti-PAF activity. The presence of these bioactive lipids in B. bassiana opens up new possibilities for its potential applications.