Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a new therapeutic agent against oropharyngeal candidiasis

Introduction. Oropharyngeal candidiasis is a common opportunistic mucosal infection of the oral cavity, mainly caused by an overgrowth of Candida albicans (C. albicans). This infection can inhibit nutritional intakes and strongly affect quality of life. To date, standard therapeutic strategies involving the administration of antifungal drugs can bring several side-effects, not least the emergence of drug-resistant strains. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of Saccharomyces cerevisiae based probiotic (S.-cerevisiae) against oropharyngeal candidiasis. Materials and methods. C57BL/6J mice were immunosuppressed with subcutaneously injection of cortisone acetate. The mice were infected with bioluminescent (BLI) C. albicans and then treated sublingually with S. cerevisiae. In these mice fungal burden was imaged and quantified in the IVIS Lumina XRMS Imaging system. Gene expression of C. albicans virulence factors such as ALS3, SAP2 and SAP6 was examined. Histopathologic lesions of tongue were also evaluated. Results. Our results show that administration of S. cerevisiae in the oral cavity of C57BL/6J mice resulted in a protective effect against oropharyngeal candidiasis. This was related to: i) a decrease of C. albicans load in the oral cavity, esophagus, stomach and duodenum; ii) an early resolution of inflammatory process in the tongue; iii) a marked reduction of C. albicans virulence factors Discussion and Conclusions. These findings suggest that probiotic S. cerevisiae is able to positively reverse/attenuate the course of OPC infection