Lactobacillus probiotics restore vaginal and gut microbiota of pregnant women with vaginal candidiasis

The development of probiotics has now included the areas along the gut-vaginal axis. We thus aimed to investigate the effects of lactobacilli probiotic to modulate and restore vaginal and gut microbiota of pregnant women with vaginal candidiasis (VC). A randomised, double-blind and placebo-controlled study was performed in 78 pregnant women with VC. Patients were randomised to either the probiotic (SynForU-HerCare) or placebo which were administered at baseline and continued for 8-weeks (two capsules/day of 9.5 log cfu/capsule). Microbiota profiles were assessed at time points of weeks-0, 4 and 8 for high vaginal swab and faecal samples. Shannon diversity index showed that after 8-weeks amid VC, a shift in microbial community compositional changes occurred in the high vaginal region at both genus (P=0.025) and species (P=0.044) levels, where the administration of probiotic prevented such a shift. These changes were mainly attributed to a decreased in abundance of Lactobacillus (P=0.042) accompanied by increased abundance of Prevotella (P=0.002) and Atopobium (P=0.002) in the placebo group while the probiotic group remained unchanged over time. The administration of probiotics also prevented a reduced abundance of faecal phylum Firmicutes after 8-weeks as seen in the placebo group (P<0.0001), which also showed reduction at subsequent taxonomic levels of class, family, genera and species. VC has not only altered the microbiota of vagina regions but also gut microbiota profiles, causing lessening of gut microbiota that are crucial for gut nutrient availability, protection and immunity. The administration of lactobacilli probiotics has prevented such a shift, leading to better modulated gut and vaginal microenvironment amid VC. The study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov: identifier number NCT03940612.

Potential immunosuppressive and antiinflammatory activities of Malaysian medicinal plants characterized by reduced cell surface expression of cell adhesion molecules

In the search for agents effective against immune-mediated disorders and inflammation, we have screened Malaysian medicinal plants for the ability to inhibit the expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) on the surface of murine endothelial cells (F-2), and mouse myeloid leukaemia cells (M1), respectively. Of 41 kinds (29 species, 24 genera, 16 families) of Malaysian plants tested, 10 and 19 plant samples significantly downregulated the expression of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1, respectively. Bioassay-directed fractionation of an extract prepared from the bark of Goniothalamus andersonii showed that its ingredients, goniothalamin (1) and goniodiol (2) inhibited the cell surface expression of both ICAM-1 and VCAM-1. The present results suggest that Malaysian medicinal plants may be abundant natural resources for immunosuppressive and antiinflammatory substances.