LMG S-24828 Impairs Virulence and Protects Vaginal Epithelial Cells against Infection In Vitro.

Probiotics are living microbes that provide benefits to the host. The growing data on health promotion, following probiotics administration, increased interest among researchers and pharmaceutical companies. Infections of the lower genital tract in females, caused by a wide range of pathogens, represent one of the main areas for the use of probiotics and postbiotics. Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) affects 75% of women of reproductive age at least once during their lifetime, with 5-8% developing the recurrent form (RVVC). The disease is triggered by the overgrowth of on the vaginal mucosa. Here, in order to establish its probiotic potential in the context of VVC, we evaluated the anti-fungal effects of the spore-producing LMG S-24828 against and as well as its beneficial effects in counteracting vaginal infection in vitro. Our results show that both live and its Cell-Free Supernatant (CFS) exerted antifungal activity against both fungi. Moreover, live reduced hyphal formation, inhibited adhesion to vaginal epithelial cells, showed co-aggregation capacity, and exerted a protective effect on vaginal epithelial cells infected with . These data suggest that LMG S-24828 may provide benefits in the context of vaginal infections.