Background

Candida albicans is the main agent that causes vulvovaginal candidiasis. Resistance among isolates to azole antifungal agents has been reported.

Aims

Due to the well-known antifungal potential of curcumin, the purpose of this work was to evaluate the in vitro anticandidal activity of curcumin and its effect in the treatment of experimental vulvovaginal candidiasis.

Methods

The anticandidal activity of curcumin was investigated against eight Candida strains by the broth microdilution assay, and its mechanism of action was evaluated by testing the binding to ergosterol. Then, the effect of curcumin in the treatment of vulvovaginal candidiasis was evaluated in an immunosuppressed, estrogen treated rat model.

Results

Curcumin showed minimum inhibitory concentration values of 125–1000 μg/ml, and the best result was observed against Candida glabrata. The compound was shown to be able to bind to the ergosterol present in the membrane, event that may be the mechanism of action. In addition, in the in vivo model of vulvovaginal candidiasis with C. albicans, treatments reduced the vaginal fungal burden in infected rats after seven days of treatment with different doses.

Conclusions

Curcumin could be considered a promising effective antifungal agent in the treatment of vulvovaginal candidiasis.

中文翻译：

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姜黄素在治疗实验性阴道阴道念珠菌病中的功效。

背景

白色念珠菌是导致外阴阴道念珠菌病的主要药物。分离株对唑类抗真菌剂有耐药性。

目的

由于姜黄素具有众所周知的抗真菌潜力，因此这项工作的目的是评估姜黄素的体外抗候选活性及其在治疗实验性阴道阴道念珠菌病中的作用。

方法

通过肉汤微稀释试验研究了姜黄素对八种念珠菌菌株的抗候选活性，并通过测试与麦角固醇的结合来评估其作用机理。然后，在免疫抑制的雌激素治疗的大鼠模型中评估姜黄素在治疗外阴念珠菌病中的作用。

结果

姜黄素的最小抑菌浓度值为125–1000μg/ ml，对光滑念珠菌的观察结果最佳。该化合物被证明能够与膜中存在的麦角甾醇结合，这可能是其作用机理。此外，在白色念珠菌外阴阴道念珠菌病的体内模型中，不同剂量的治疗7天后，治疗降低了感染大鼠的阴道真菌负担。

结论

姜黄素可以被认为是治疗外阴阴道念珠菌病的有效抗真菌剂。