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Natural honey to fight Candida infections

Abstract

Eurobiofilms 2017 - 5th European Congress on Microbial BiofilmsThe incidence of Candida infections (Candidosis) has increased remarkably in the last years, being attributed to the rise in the elderly population, the increasing number of immunocompromised patients, and the widespread use of indwelling medical devices. Candida albicans remains as the most prevalent species of these infections, but a clear rise in the proportion of non-Candida albicans Candida (NCAC) species has been noted. These species have an inherent level of resistance to certain antifungal agents higher than C. albicans though their virulence factors are much less understood. A major virulence factor is the ability to adhere and to form biofilms in medical devices and host tissues, because of a higher tolerance to antifungal therapy. Consequently, there is an urgent need to develop new strategies to fight these infections. Natural compounds are attracting increased interest in this field, among which honey. AIM: To evaluate honey as a novel strategy to fight C. tropicalis infections.This study was supported by FCT under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norte.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

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