Study: How Candida albicans might be rendered harmless

[Suzy]

Here is a link to a study that I thought others might be interested in reading since so many here on Ap have to consider Candida issues.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/266578.php

In her study, Rao and her collaborators looked for such a new chink in a part of Candida’s cells known as the vacuole. The vacuole’s main function is as a recycling center that chews up cellular waste, so it was a surprise when a previous study from her group found that a well-known antifungal drug prevented the vacuole from becoming acidic. This led them to suspect that acidification of the vacuole was important for virulence. The research team focused on V-ATPase, the enzyme responsible for making many compartments of the cell, including the vacuoles, acidic. Because humans have a very similar enzyme, the scientists weren’t looking to eliminate it altogether – “that would have been like taking a sledgehammer to cells,” Rao explains. Rather, they homed in on just one of the enzyme’s components, known as subunit a.. Like many proteins in fungi and higher animals, there is more than one version of subunit a, which come from different genes – a duplication that gives the organism a backup in case a mutation disables one of the genes.

Rao said first they altered Candida cells so that they could only use one or the other version of the subunit a gene. As expected, they found that inactivating either one had no effect because the other compensates in every function – except one. It turned out that acidification of the vacuole exclusively depended on one version of the gene. This allowed them to test the importance of the vacuole’s acidity on virulence, separate from the many other functions of the V-ATPase. Unable to acidify the vacuole, the fungus could no longer form the tentacle-like filaments that characterize its deadly form. When the researchers injected healthy Candida into the bloodstream of mice, nearly all died within a week. In contrast, mice injected with the strain of fungus that was unable to acidify the vacuole remained healthy and survived.

This statement about acidification reminds me of what we already know about candida and our bodies pH…… if we alter our bodies pH naturally does this also affect the acidity of the vacuole and Candida’s ability to survive ? Seems to be what we already know if I’m reading this right.

Then there is this last statement that surprised me……. she didn’t say which med it was but I am curious.

previous studies from her lab showed that a drug already in use to treat a heart condition known as arrhythmia had the unexpected effect of blocking acidification of the fungal vacuole

Anyone ever heard of this med? ……. Guess it probably couldn’t be used for Candida but its good that they are looking into others that might right ?

Be Well…..Suzy

[A Friend]

Hi Suzy,

Just read your post about something that might render Candida albicans harmless. Now, in my opinion, that would be one of the most important breakthroughs I can imagine. I believe Candida albicans making our bodies unhealthily acidic is the cause of a tremendous number of problems and leading to even worse diagnoses as well.

Am wondering if this might be what you were referring to? If not, hope it can be found again. The unfriendly organisms thrive and multiply in an acidic environment; and our bodies don’t need any more of those.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21778264
J Med Microbiol. 2011 Nov;60(Pt 11):1643-50. doi: 10.1099/jmm.0.029058-0. Epub 2011 Jul 21.
Blocking of Candida albicans biofilm formation by cis-2-dodecenoic acid and trans-2-dodecenoic acid.

Thanks for sharing the article. I, too, have been reading information on the subject of yeast/fungus overgrowth. I believe this and its acidity is responsible for more things going wrong in our bodies that most of us could imagine. The most recent article I’ve found discusses these, and seems to confirm what I’ve been thinking, related to my own ever-changing health history.

The following are things copied/pasted from the link below to further study. I was not interested in the site from any commercial product point of view (if it is also that), but rather for the information it has about so many areas and problems thought to be connected to yeast/fungal overgrowth. It is the most comprehensive piece on this subject I’ve ever read. There is also another site found that mentions sleep apnea and many other problems being related to candida yeast overgrowth as well.

http://www.candida-yeast-infection-relief.com/sinusskin.shtml
Severe Candida Overgrowth:
Disrupts Cellular Detox Pathways,
Reduces Cellular Energy Production
& May Lead To Cancer and Osteoporosis

http://www.thenaturalhealthexpert.com/pure-organic-coconut-oil-is-an-awesome-natural-yeast-infection-treatment/
[An excerpt from this site is pasted below:]

It

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