A preliminary evaluation on the antifungal efficacy of VT-1161 against Persister Candida albicans cells in vulvovaginal candidiasis
Open accessAbstract
Persister cells are a small fraction of the microbial population that survive lethal concentrations of antimicrobial agents. Candida albicans causes vaginal candidiasis, including recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis, and may survive common antifungal treatments. The triazole VT-1161 is an antifungal agent that specifically targets fungal CYP51, as opposed to the human CYP enzyme. This work illustrates a new role of VT-1161 in eradicating the biofilm created from the persister cells of a primary biofilm of a clinical vaginal isolate of C. albicans. Antifungal activity was determined by the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), and the primary biofilm was treated with amphotericin B to obtain persister cells that were able to form a new biofilm. Results obtained using the new azole VT-1161 showed that VT-1161 not only eradicated a secondary biofilm formed from the persister-derived biofilm and counteracted the adhesion of C. albicans in vitro to human cells but also ameliorated C. albicans-induced infection in vivo in Galleria mellonella larvae, suggesting that it could be proposed as an alternative therapeutic strategy for the treatment of recurrent candidiasis.
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VT-1161 eradicated AmB-tolerant persisters in biofilms and prevented adhesion of C. albicans to human cells in vitro.
“Similarly, a new azole, VT-1161, not only eradicated AmB-tolerant persisters in biofilms, but also prevented the adhesion of C. albicans to human cells in vitro [52].”
From Antifungal persistence: Clinical relevance and mechanisms (2025) · cites this paper as [52]
Results §3.3 reports that VT-1161 reduced a secondary biofilm grown from amphotericin B–tolerant persisters; it does not show eradication of the persister cells themselves. Methods §2.7 and Results §3.4 show removal of Candida cells after they had adhered to human HaCaT cells in vitro, rather than prevention of adhesion. Page numbers were not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.90)
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- Authors
- Sinoca, M., Maione, A., Gambino, E., Imparato, M., Galdiero, M., de Alteriis, E., Galdiero, E., & Guida, M.
- Affiliations
- University of Naples Federico II (IT)
- University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli" (IT)
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Via Cinthia, 80126 Naples, Italy
- Corresponding author
- Galdiero, Emilia
- Venue
- Biomedicines
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2024-02-07
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 389
- ISSN
- 2227-9059 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC10887314
- OpenAlex
- W4391597794
- Cited by
- 7
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 4
- FWCI
- 2.41
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Biomedicines (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Archivio Istituzionale della Ricerca - Università degli Studi della Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli" (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › Antifungal resistance and susceptibility
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Fungal and yeast genetics research
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Essential Oils and Antimicrobial Activity
- Keywords
- Candida albicans, vaginal candidiasis, recurrent candidiasis, persister cells, biofilm eradication, azole antifungals, amphotericin B, Galleria mellonella infection model, antifungal susceptibility
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