Candida albicans cell-free extract against human gastric cancer; an in-vitro study

Yeast cell-free extracts and supernatants contain several compounds such as β-glucan, mannan, chitin, and mannoprotein with potent antitumor and other health-promoting activities. Candida albicans have been frequently and widely isolated from different habitats compared to other yeasts. The supernatant extracted from this yeast also contains β-glucan, chitin, and mannan compounds. This study investigates the anticancer, apoptosis-inducing, and downregulation of proinflammatory gene expression activities in normal and drug-resistant human stomach cancer cells (EPG and RDB cell lines) after 24 and 48 h treatment.

We found that Candida albicans supernatant-induced apoptosis suppressed the survivin gene expression in both cell lines and suppressed the expression of IL-8 and NF-ƙB genes in normal stomach cancer cells. IC₅₀ for EPG cells were 1599 µg/mL and 1040 µg/mL after 24 and 48 h treatment, respectively; and for RDB cells were 877 µg/mL and 675 µg/mL after 24 and 48 h treatment, respectively. Consequently, this work suggests that Candida albicans supernatant can potentially protect against and treat human stomach cancer.