Ma J, Yang Y-C, Su L-Q, Qin D-M, Yuan K, Zhang Y, Wang R-R
College of Pharmacy, Dali University, Dali, China.
College of Chinese Materia Medica, Yunnan University of Chinese Medicine, Kunming, China.
Lett Appl Microbiol. 2022 Apr;74(4):564-576. doi: 10.1111/lam.13641. Epub 2022 Feb 8.
Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) is an infectious disease caused mainly by Candida albicans. Kangfuxin (KFX) is a traditional Chinese medicine preparation made from Periplaneta americana extracts, which promotes wound healing and enhances body immunity and also acts as an antifungal agent. Here, we evaluated the effect of KFX in the treatment of VVC in vitro and in vivo. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC ) of KFX against C. albicans ranged from 7·65 to 20·57%. In addition, KFX was more efficient than fluconazole (FLC) in inhibiting the drug-resistant C. albicans, and the effect was more intense after 8 h. The KFX treatment also exhibited good activity in vivo. It restored the body weight and reduced the vulvovaginal symptoms in mice induced with VVC. It downregulated the expression of the hyphae-related gene, HWP1, thus inhibiting the growth and development of C. albicans hyphae. It also increased the number of neutrophils and promoted the secretion of interleukin-17A (IL-17A); however, the levels of interleukin-8 (IL-8) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) decreased in mice with VVC. We deduce that KFX effectively treats vaginal candidiasis in two ways: by inhibiting the growth and development of mycelia to reduce colonization of C. albicans and by promoting the secretion and release of IL-17A and neutrophils in high numbers to fight C. albicans infection. This study provides a theoretical basis for the use of KFX for the clinical treatment of VVC.
外阴阴道念珠菌病（VVC）是一种主要由白色念珠菌引起的传染病。康复新（KFX）是一种由美洲大蠊提取物制成的中药制剂，具有促进伤口愈合、增强机体免疫力的作用，同时还具有抗真菌活性。在此，我们评估了KFX在体外和体内治疗VVC的效果。KFX对白色念珠菌的最低抑菌浓度（MIC）范围为7.65%至20.57%。此外，KFX在抑制耐药白色念珠菌方面比氟康唑（FLC）更有效，且在8小时后效果更显著。KFX治疗在体内也表现出良好的活性。它恢复了VVC诱导小鼠的体重，并减轻了外阴阴道症状。它下调了菌丝相关基因HWP1的表达，从而抑制了白色念珠菌菌丝的生长和发育。它还增加了中性粒细胞的数量，并促进了白细胞介素-17A（IL-17A）的分泌；然而，VVC小鼠中白细胞介素-8（IL-8）和白细胞介素-1β（IL-1β）的水平降低。我们推断，KFX通过两种方式有效治疗阴道念珠菌病：通过抑制菌丝的生长和发育以减少白色念珠菌的定植，以及通过促进IL-17A的分泌和大量释放中性粒细胞来对抗白色念珠菌感染。本研究为KFX用于VVC的临床治疗提供了理论依据。
