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Updated: Oct 6, 2025
Measuring Lactase Enzymatic Activity in the Teaching Lab
Published on: August 6, 2018
Anticandidal Activities by Lactobacillus Species: An Update on Mechanisms of Action
Roberto Vazquez-Munoz1, Anna Dongari-Bagtzoglou1
1Department of Oral Health and Diagnostic Sciences, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT, United States.
Abstract:
Lactobacilli are among the most studied bacteria in the microbiome of the orodigestive and genitourinary tracts. As probiotics, lactobacilli may provide various benefits to the host. These benefits include regulating the composition of the resident microbiota, preventing - or even potentially reverting- a dysbiotic state. Candida albicans is an opportunistic pathogen that can influence and be influenced by other members of the mucosal microbiota and, under immune-compromising conditions, can cause disease. Lactobacillus and Candida species can colonize the same mucosal sites; however, certain Lactobacillus species display antifungal activities that can contribute to low Candida burdens and prevent fungal infection. Lactobacilli can produce metabolites with direct anticandidal function or enhance the host defense mechanisms against fungi. Most of the Lactobacillus spp. anticandidal mechanisms of action remain underexplored. This work aims to comprehensively review and provide an update on the current knowledge regarding these anticandidal mechanisms.
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