Probiotics for Prevention and Treatment of Candidiasis and Other Infectious Diseases: Lactobacillus spp. and Other Potential Bacterial Species

The resident microbiota in the human body, such as the oral cavity, gastrointestinal tract and genitourinary tract, is able to provide resistance to disease. However, imbalances in the microbial components can promote the growth of opportunistic microorganisms, such as yeasts of genus Candida. Fungal infections present as a major cause of infectious diseases and the microorganisms of genus Candida are the most frequently isolated pathogenic fungi in human fungal infections. Bacillus spp. and Lactobacillus spp. are bacteria that have probiotic effects used in commercially available products and in studies that aim for the development of probiotics able to inhibit the microbial pathogenicity and restore the balance of resident microbiota. Thus, with increasing fungus resistance to the use of antifungal agents, which are capable of causing serious side effects to the host organism unable to destroy the target microorganism, it becomes important to develop therapeutic and/or prophylactic alternatives that have a different and an effective mechanism of action with capacity to combat fungal infections without harming the patient. Probiotic bacteria provide an alternative strategy for the prevention and treatment of candidiasis and other infectious diseases

Presence of Candida spp. in the oral cavity of heart transplantation patients

Candida spp. can lead to infections or even fungal sepsis particularly among immunocompromized individuals. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to analyze the presence of Candida spp. among patients subjected to orthotopic heart transplantation. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Oral rinses from 50 patients subjected to orthotopic heart transplantation, aged 13 to 70 years, 40 males and 10 females, were examined. Sex-age-oral conditions matched-control included 50 individuals who were not subjected to any kind of transplantation and were not immunocompromized for any other reason. Counts of yeasts were expressed as median values of logarithm of cfu/mL and were statistically compared by Mann-Whitney's test. The heart transplant and control groups were compared for the presence of Candida spp. by chi-square test (

Susceptibility of Candida albicans and Candida dubliniensis to erythrosine- and LED-mediated photodynamic therapy

AbstractThe effect of erythrosine- and LED-mediated photodynamic therapy (PDT) on planktonic cultures and biofilms of Candida albicans and Candida dubliniensis was evaluated. Planktonic cultures of standardized suspensions (106cells/mL) of C. albicans and C. dubliniensis were treated with erythrosine concentrations of 0.39–200μM and LEDs in a 96-well microtiter plate. Biofilms formed by C. albicans and C. dubliniensis in the bottom of a 96-well microtiter plate were treated with 400μM erythrosine and LEDs. After PDT, the biofilms were analysed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The antimicrobial effect of PDT against planktonic cultures and biofilms was verified by counting colony-forming units (CFU/mL), and the data were submitted to analysis of variance and the Tukey test (P<0.05). C. albicans and C. dubliniensis were not detectable after PDT of planktonic cultures with erythrosine concentrations of 3.12μM or higher. The CFU/mL values obtained from biofilms were reduced 0.74 log10 for C. albicans and 0.21 log10 for C. dubliniensis. SEM revealed a decrease in the quantity of yeasts and hyphae in the biofilm after PDT. In conclusion, C. albicans and C. dubliniensis were susceptible to erythrosine- and LED-mediated PDT, but the biofilms of both Candida species were more resistant than their planktonic counterparts

Antifungal and anti-biofilm activity of designed derivatives from kyotorphin

© 2019 British Mycological Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Kyotorphin (KTP, l-tyrosyl-l-arginine) is an endogenous analgesic neuropeptide first isolated from bovine brain in 1979. Previous studies have shown that kyotorphins possess anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activity. Six kyotorphins—KTP-NH2, KTP–NH2–DL, ibuprofen-conjugated KTP (IbKTP), IbKTP-NH2, N-methyl-D-Tyr-L-Arg, and N-methyl-L-Tyr-D-Arg—were designed and synthesized to improve lipophilicity and resistance to enzymatic degradation. This study assessed the antimicrobial and antibiofilm activity of these peptides. The antifungal activity of kyotorphins was determined in representative strains of Candida species, including Candida albicans ATCC 10231, Candida krusei ATCC 6258, and six clinical isolates—Candida dubliniensis 19-S, Candida glabrata 217-S, Candida lusitaniae 14-S, Candida novergensis 51-S, Candida parapsilosis 63, and Candida tropicalis 140-S—obtained from the oral cavity of HIV-positive patients. The peptides were synthesized by standard solution or solid-phase synthesis, purified by RP-HPLC (purity >95 %), and characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance. The results of the broth microdilution assay and scanning electron microscopy showed that IbKTP-NH2 presented significant antifungal activity against Candida strains and antibiofilm activity against the clinical isolates. The absence of toxic activity and survival after infection was assessed after injecting the peptide in larvae of Galleria mellonella as experimental infection model. Furthermore, IbKTP-NH2 had strong antimicrobial activity against multidrug-resistant bacteria and fungi and was not toxic to G. mellonella larvae up to a concentration of 500 mM. These results suggest that IbKTP-NH2, in addition to its known effect on cell membranes, can elicit a cellular immune response and, therefore, is promising for biomedical application.This research was supported by FAPESP (Grant No. 2017/00032-0). This article is also part of the Fungal Adaptation to Hostile Challenges special issue for the third International Symposium on Fungal Stress (ISFUS), which is supported by the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) (Grant No. 2018/20571-6) and the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) (Grant No. 88881.289327/2018-01).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Gynecological and obstetrics aspects of patients treated in public and private health services: are there any differences?

PURPOSE: To evaluate the epidemiological and clinical aspects of gynecological patients seeking care in the private and public health networks. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study we analyzed the records of 243 patients (122 public service patients and 121 private service ones), from January 2007 to January 2008. We excluded records of pregnant patients with vaginal bleeding, history of using vaginal creams or gels at intervals of less than 15 days and patients who had sexual intercourse within less than five days before their visit and with incomplete clinical data. Data were analyzed statistically using the Stata software, version 9.2, with a 5% level of significance. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients attending the public health service was 27±12 years-old and 25.9±10.4 years-old for patients attending the private health service, with no statistical difference between means (F=0.5 and p=0.4). Patients attending the public health service had lower education (p<0.001), they were preferentially housewives (p<0.001), began sexual life early, had a greater number of partners (p<0.001), of pregnancies (p<0.001) and of deliveries (p=0.004), and mainly used the condom as a contraceptive method (p=0.013). There was no statistical difference between groups regarding the history of sexual transmitted diseases, diagnosis of candidiasis, bacterial vaginosis, trichomoniasis, or neoplasia. CONCLUSIONS: Patients attending the public health service have a higher number of pregnancies and births. They are usually housewives with low educational level, their sex life begins early, and they have more partners. However, there was no difference between groups when evaluating breast diseases, gynecological infections, or cancer of the cervix, which suggests that socioeconomic status is not the only element in the determination of the disease and, therefore, other variables should be evaluated.OBJETIVO: Avaliar os aspectos epidemiológicos e clínicos de pacientes ginecológicas atendidas nas redes privada e pública de saúde. MÉTODOS: Estudo de corte transversal, no qual foram estudados prontuários de 243 pacientes (122 pacientes no serviço público e 121 no privado), de janeiro de 2007 a janeiro de 2008. Excluíram-se os prontuários de pacientes grávidas, com sangramento genital, histórico de uso de cremes ou géis vaginais em intervalos inferiores há 15 dias e pacientes que tiveram relação sexual em prazo inferior a cinco dias da consulta avaliada. A análise dos dados foi realizada com recursos de processamento estatístico do software Stata, versão 9.2, considerando-se o nível de significância de 5%. RESULTADOS: A média de idade das pacientes foi de 27±12 anos entre pacientes da rede pública, e de 25,9±10,4 anos na rede particular, não havendo diferença estatística entre estas médias (F=0,5 e p=0,4). As pacientes da rede pública apresentaram escolaridade mais baixa (p<0,001), eram preferencialmente do lar (p<0,001), iniciaram vida sexual mais precocemente, tiveram maior número de parceiros (p<0,001), de gestações (p<0,001) e de partos (p=0,004) e utilizavam principalmente a camisinha como método contraceptivo (p=0,013). Não houve diferença estatística em relação aos antecedentes de doenças sexualmente transmissíveis, ao diagnóstico de candidíase, vaginose bacteriana, tricomoníase ou neoplasia. CONCLUSÕES: As pacientes da rede pública de saúde apresentam maior número de gestações e partos. São, em geral, donas de casa, com baixa escolaridade, iniciam vida sexual mais precocemente e com maior número de parceiros. Entretanto, não houve diferença entre os grupos quando se avaliaram doenças mamárias, infecções ginecológicas ou neoplasias de colo uterino, o que sugere que o nível socioeconômico não é o único elemento no determinismo da doença e, por isso, outras variáveis devem ser avaliadas

Mortalidade neonatal em Luanda, Angola: o que pode ser feito para sua redução?

Introduction: One of the main health indicators is infant&nbsp;mortality rate, which is a metric of living conditions and&nbsp;population development. The goal of reducing neonatal&nbsp;mortality requires an adequate knowledge of the real factors at&nbsp;each level of health care so that maternal and human resources&nbsp;are efficiently channeled to the constraint. Countries that have&nbsp;paid special attention to improving health services for the entire&nbsp;pregnancy-puerperal cycle have attained the reduction of infant&nbsp;mortality, especially early neonatal mortality.&nbsp;Objective: The present study aims to describe the profile and&nbsp;analyze the risk factors associated with neonatal mortality in&nbsp;the Angolan context at a tertiary level public maternity hospital,&nbsp;located in Luanda.&nbsp;Methods: This is a retrospective cross-sectional study with a&nbsp;quantitative approach, using secondary data, of provincial base&nbsp;in hospital and ministerial registry instruments from January to&nbsp;December 2012.&nbsp;Results: The results show that the neonatal deaths are not&nbsp;mere occurrences, since they indicate failures of the political&nbsp;powers, professionals of the health system and of the families.&nbsp;Conclusions: This study suggests that the major risk factor&nbsp;for birth mortality in Luanda is the type of delivery (c-section)&nbsp;and that this data is not related to the age of the mother or to&nbsp;premature birth. We also found that there was higher mortality&nbsp;between May and July, during the period of lower rainfall index&nbsp;in the region. However, further studies are needed that may&nbsp;provide a logical framework and arguments for realistic policies&nbsp;to mitigate neonatal mortality.Introdução: Um dos principais indicadores de saúde é a taxa&nbsp;de mortalidade infantil, que é uma métrica de condições de vida&nbsp;e desenvolvimento populacional. A redução da mortalidade&nbsp;neonatal requer um conhecimento adequado dos fatores reais&nbsp;em cada nível de atenção à saúde, de modo que os recursos&nbsp;maternos e humanos sejam eficientemente avaliados. Os&nbsp;países que deram atenção especial à melhoria dos serviços&nbsp;de saúde para todo o ciclo gravídico-puerperal atingiram a&nbsp;redução da mortalidade infantil, especialmente a mortalidade&nbsp;neonatal precoce.&nbsp;Objetivo: O presente estudo tem como objetivo descrever o&nbsp;perfil e analisar os fatores de risco associados à mortalidade&nbsp;neonatal em uma maternidade pública de nível terciário&nbsp;localizada em Luanda, Angola.&nbsp;Método: Trata-se de um estudo retrospectivo de corte&nbsp;transversal com abordagem quantitativa, utilizando dados&nbsp;secundários de base provincial em instrumentos de registro&nbsp;hospitalar e ministerial de janeiro a dezembro de 2012.&nbsp;Resultados: Os resultados mostram que os óbitos neonatais&nbsp;não são meras ocorrências, pois indicam falhas dos poderes&nbsp;políticos, de profissionais do sistema de saúde e das famílias.&nbsp;Conslusão: Este estudo sugere que o maior fator de risco&nbsp;para mortalidade ao nascimento em Luanda é o tipo de parto&nbsp;(c-section) e que este dado não está relacionado com a idade&nbsp;da mãe ou com o nascimento prematuro. Identificamos também&nbsp;que houve maior mortalidade entre os meses de maio a julho,&nbsp;durante o período de menor índice de chuvas na região. No&nbsp;entanto, são necessários mais estudos que possam fornecer&nbsp;um quadro lógico e argumentos para políticas realistas para&nbsp;mitigar a mortalidade neonatal