Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Feb 17;117(1):37.
doi: 10.1007/s10482-024-01929-1.

Cell-free supernatants of probiotic consortia impede hyphal formation and disperse biofilms of vulvovaginal candidiasis causing Candida in an ex-vivo model

Sudaarsan Aruna Senthil Kumar #  1 , Dhesiga Krishnan #  1 , Sowndarya Jothipandiyan  1 , Ramyadevi Durai  2 , B Narayanan Vedha Hari  2 , Paramasivam Nithyanand  3
Affiliations

Cell-free supernatants of probiotic consortia impede hyphal formation and disperse biofilms of vulvovaginal candidiasis causing Candida in an ex-vivo model

Sudaarsan Aruna Senthil Kumar et al. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek. .

Abstract

Vulvovaginal candidiasis is the second most common vaginal infection caused by drug-resistant Candida species that affects about 70-75% of reproductive age group women across the globe. As current-day antifungal drugs are ineffective against the biofilms formed by the drug-resistant Candida strains, several natural compounds and antagonistic microbes are being explored as alternative antifungal agents. In the present study, we investigated the anti-biofilm activity of Cell-Free Supernatant (CFS) extracted from the commercially available probiotics VSL-3 against the biofilms of Candida species and also evaluated their efficacy in curbing the yeast-to-hyphal transition. Various methodologies like crystal violet staining and scanning electron microscopy were used to study the effect of CFS against the biofilms formed by the species. The ability of CFS to interfere with yeast to hyphal transition in Candida was studied by colony morphology assay and visually confirmed with phase contrast microscopy. The potential of the CFS of the probiotics was also evaluated using goat buccal tissue, a novel ex-vivo model that mimics the vaginal environment. Moreover, the supernatant extracted from VSL-3 had the ability to down-regulate the expression of virulence genes of Candida from the biofilm formed over the ex-vivo model. These results emphasize the anti-fungal and anti-infective properties of the CFS of VSL-3 against drug-resistant Candida strains causing vulvovaginal candidiasis.

Keywords: Biofilm; Candida; Vaginal cavity; Virulence factors; Vulvovaginal candidiasis.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Arendrup MC, Patterson TF (2017) Multidrug-resistant Candida: epidemiology, molecular mechanisms, and treatment. J Infect Dis 216(suppl_3):S445–S451. https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jix131 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Arthur J, Gharaibeh R, Uronis J et al (2013) VSL#3 probiotic modifies mucosal microbial composition but does not reduce colitis-associated colorectal cancer. Sci Rep 3:2868. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep02868 - DOI - PubMed - PMC
    1. Barousse MM, Steele C, Dunlap K, Espinosa T, Boikov D, Sobel JD, Fidel Jr PL (2001) Growth inhibition of Candida albicans by human vaginal epithelial cells. J Infect Dis 184(11):1489–1493. https://doi.org/10.1086/324532 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bhattacharya S, Sae-Tia S, Fries BC (2020) Candidiasis and mechanisms of antifungal resistance. Antibiotics 9(6):312. https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics9060312 - DOI - PubMed - PMC
    1. Chandra J, Kuhn DM, Mukherjee PK, Hoyer LL, McCormick T, Ghannoum MA (2001) Biofilm formation by the fungal pathogen Candida albicans: development, architecture, and drug resistance. J Bacteriol 183(18):5385–5394. https://doi.org/10.1128/JB.183.18.5385-5394.2001 - DOI - PubMed - PMC

Substances

LinkOut - more resources