Glabridin triggers over-expression of apoptosis inducing factor (AIF) gene in Candida albicans

is a prevalent human fungal pathogen that can cause a wide spectrum of diseases, from superficial mucosal infections to systemic disorders, in patients with impaired immunity. Glabridin is a pyranoisoflavan originally extracted from root extract of . Glabridin can also mediate apoptosis in yeast cells by changing the mitochondrial membrane potential, activation of caspase-like proteases, and DNA cleavage. The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanism of action of glabridin in . ATCC14053 was applied as the standard strain. Total RNA was extracted from the isolate under glabridin-treated and untreated conditions. To evaluate the alternations in the apoptosis inducing factor ( ) gene expression, real-time polymerase chain reaction (real-time -PCR) was performed, and the obtained data were analyzed using REST software. Expression of the gene was represented as the ratio of expression relative to the reference gene. According to the REST output, the expression of the gene increased significantly ( ) under the glabridin-treated condition. Our results suggested that glabridin may induce apoptosis through the caspase-independent route and might be considered as an anti- agent.