Iron Chelator Deferasirox Reduces Invasion of Oral Epithelial Cells and Infection Levels in Murine Oropharyngeal Candidiasis.

, the causative agent of mucosal infections, including oropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC), as well as bloodstream infections, is becoming increasingly resistant to existing treatment options. In the absence of novel drug candidates, drug repurposing aimed at using existing drugs to treat off-label diseases is a promising strategy. requires environmental iron for survival and virulence, while host nutritional immunity deploys iron-binding proteins to sequester iron and reduce fungal growth. Here we evaluated the role of iron limitation using deferasirox (an FDA-approved iron chelator for the treatment of patients with iron overload) during murine OPC and assessed deferasirox-treated for its interaction with human oral epithelial (OE) cells, neutrophils, and antimicrobial peptides. Therapeutic deferasirox treatment significantly reduced salivary iron levels, while a nonsignificant reduction in the fungal burden was observed. Preventive treatment that allowed for two additional days of drug administration in our murine model resulted in a significant reduction in the number of CFU per gram of tongue tissue, a significant reduction in salivary iron levels, and significantly reduced neutrophil-mediated inflammation. cells harvested from the tongues of animals undergoing preventive treatment had the differential expression of 106 genes, including those involved in iron metabolism, adhesion, and the response to host innate immunity. Moreover, deferasirox-treated cells had a 2-fold reduction in survival in neutrophil phagosomes (with greater susceptibility to oxidative stress) and reduced adhesion to and invasion of OE cells Thus, deferasirox treatment has the potential to alleviate OPC by affecting gene expression and reducing virulence.