Zhao Ting, Zhang Kang, Shi Gaoxiang, Ma Kelong, Wang Benfan, Shao Jing, Wang Tianming, Wang Changzhong
Department of Pathogenic Biology and Immunology, College of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine (College of Life Science), Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, China.
Institute of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, China.
Front Pharmacol. 2022 Feb 28;13:814883. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2022.814883. eCollection 2022.
Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) is an inflammatory disease of the vagina mainly caused by (), which affects around three-quarters of all women during their reproductive age. Although some antifungal drugs such as azoles have been applied clinically for many years, their therapeutic value is very limited due to the emergence of drug-resistant strains. Previous studies have shown that the adhesion of to vaginal epithelial cells is essential for the pathogenesis of VVC. Therefore, preventing the adhesion of to vaginal epithelial cells may be one of the most effective strategies for the treatment of VVC. Berberine (BBR) is a biologically active herbal alkaloid that was used to treat VVC. However, so far, its mechanism has remained unclear. This study shows BBR significantly inhibits the adhesion of to vaginal epithelial cells by reducing the expressions of ICAM-1, mucin1, and mucin4 in vaginal epithelial cells, which play the most important role in modulating the adhesion of to host cells, and balancing IL-2 and IL-4 expressions, which play a key effect on regulating the inflammatory response caused by infection. Hence, our findings demonstrate that BBR may be a potential therapeutic agent for VVC by interfering with the adhesion of to vaginal epithelial cells and represents a new pathway for developing antifungal therapies agents from natural herbs.
外阴阴道念珠菌病（VVC）是一种主要由（）引起的阴道炎症性疾病，影响约四分之三的育龄女性。尽管一些抗真菌药物如唑类已在临床上应用多年，但由于耐药菌株的出现，其治疗价值非常有限。先前的研究表明，（）与阴道上皮细胞的黏附对于VVC的发病机制至关重要。因此，阻止（）与阴道上皮细胞的黏附可能是治疗VVC最有效的策略之一。黄连素（BBR）是一种具有生物活性的草药生物碱，曾用于治疗VVC。然而，迄今为止，其作用机制仍不清楚。本研究表明，BBR通过降低阴道上皮细胞中ICAM-1、黏蛋白1和黏蛋白4的表达，显著抑制（）与阴道上皮细胞的黏附，这些蛋白在调节（）与宿主细胞的黏附中起最重要作用，同时平衡IL-2和IL-4的表达，这对调节由（）感染引起的炎症反应起关键作用。因此，我们的研究结果表明，BBR可能是一种通过干扰（）与阴道上皮细胞的黏附来治疗VVC的潜在治疗剂，并代表了从天然草药开发抗真菌治疗剂的新途径。
