Saccharomyces cerevisiae-Based Probiotics as Novel Antimicrobial Agents to Prevent and Treat Vaginal Infections.

Roberta Gaziano,Elena Roselletti,Stefano Perito,Samuele Sabbatini,Claudia Monari

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2020.00718

Roberta Gaziano, Elena Roselletti + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2020.00718

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Abstract

Vaginal infections affect 70% of women during their lifetimes and account for millions of annual doctors’ visits. These infections are predominantly represented by vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) and bacterial vaginosis (BV). Although standard antimicrobial agents remain the major strategy for the prevention and treatment of vaginal infections, both VVC and BV are difficult to treat due to high rates of resistance and recurrence, high probability of complications, and negative effects on the vaginal microbiota. This review focuses on a new approach of yeast-based probiotics for the prevention and/or treatment of these common vaginal infections.

Highlights

It is estimated that vaginal infections account for more than 10 million doctors’ visits per year, and that 70% of episodes of vaginitis in premenopausal women are caused by bacterial vaginosis (BV) or vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC; Anderson et al, 2004)
Using an in vivo imaging system, we demonstrated, in a mouse model of VVC, that the daily intravaginal administration of live S. cerevisiae (CNCM I-3856 strain) and, to a lesser degree, of inactivated S. cerevisiae (CNCM 1-3856 strain), elicited C. albicans clearance at levels similar to those obtained with fluconazole (Pericolini et al, 2017), the conventional drug used to treat Candida vaginitis (Workowski, 2015; Workowski et al, 2015)
As we have recently found that in patients with VVC high IL-8 levels in vaginal fluid are positively associated with Candida infection (Roselletti et al, 2019a), IL-8 downregulation may represent an intriguing strategy for treatment of Candida vaginitis

Summary

Introduction

It is estimated that vaginal infections account for more than 10 million doctors’ visits per year, and that 70% of episodes of vaginitis in premenopausal women are caused by bacterial vaginosis (BV) or vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC; Anderson et al, 2004). It is evident that despite the use of standard antimicrobial agents, which remains the major strategy for treating vaginal infections, the high resistance and recurrence rates, the high probability of complications, and several adverse effects on beneficial vaginal microbiota underscore the need for novel antimicrobial therapeutic approaches.

Results

Conclusion