Biol. Pharm. Bull. 30(10) 1969—1971 (2007)

cular plants. They are important constituents of human dietary sources, such as fruits and vegetables, and they are also important for the growth, development and defense of plants. There are numerous flavonoids such as apigenin, genistein, narigenin, malvidin chloride and amentoflavone, and flavonoids exhibit various favorable biological and pharmacological effects. Amentoflavone belongs to a flavonoid class that is found in a number of plants including Ginkgo biloba, Hypericum perforatum, Ouratea multiflora and related Selaginella species. Selaginella tamarisina, Korean name Keoun-Back which belongs to Selaginellaceae, has been traditionally used in treating blood in excrement, hematuria, prolapse of the anus and stanching. It is proved that Selaginella species contain a large number of active compounds, the most important of which are biflavonoids. Amentoflavone, which is one kind of biflavone, has various pharmacological effects. It can act as an anti-inflammatory, anti-urcerogenic, anti-depressant, anti-oxidant, analgesic and it has cytotoxic activity. Besides such biological activity, there have also been reports regarding its biological effects toward microorganisms. Studies have shown that amentoflavone has antiviral activity against influenza, herpes, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and antifungal activity with the main focus being on phytopathogens, which coincides with the inhibition of phytopathogen infections. Amentoflavone was isolated from three different plants including Cupressocyparis leylandii, Taxus baccata, and Ginkgo biloba, and it exhibited antifungal activity against phytopathogenic fungi Alternaria alternate, Cladosporium oxysporum, Fusarium culmorum, and Fusarium avenaceum. Although some studies have revealed the antimicrobial effects of amentoflavone, there is a paucity of research regarding antifungal effects on human pathogenic fungi except our previous study. In the previous study, we found antifungal activity of amentoflavone against human pathogenic fungi, but the effect induced by this compound in intracellular condition of C. albicans remains unknown. Here, to substantiate the action of amentoflavone in C. albicans, we investigated the correlation between the activity of amentoflavone and physiological changes in the human pathogenic yeast C. albicans.