Coconut Oil Shows Promise in the Prevention of C. albicans
In humans, high levels of C. albicans in the GI tract can lead to bloodstream infections, including invasive candidiasis. The research suggests that it might be possible to use dietary approaches as an alternative to antifungal drugs in order to decrease the risk for infections caused by C. albicans (mSphere 2015 Nov 18. doi: 10.1128/mSphere00020-15).
C. albicans is part of the normal gut flora and well regulated by the immune system. When the immune system is compromised, however, the fungus can spread beyond the GI tract and cause disease. Systemic infections caused by C. albicans can lead to invasive candidiasis, which is the fourth most common bacteremia among hospitalized patients in the United States according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The infection is most common among immunocompromised patients, including premature infants and older adults. Roughly 40% to 50% of individuals who have systemic C. albicans die from the infection.
Antifungal drugs can be used to decrease and control C. albicans in the gut and prevent it from spreading to the bloodstream, but repeated use of antifungal drugs can lead to drug-resistant strains of fungal pathogens. To prevent infections caused by C. albicans, the amount of C. albicans in the GI tract needs to be reduced. Previous research has shown that changes in diet, including changes in the amount and type of fat, can alter GI microbiota. In vitro studies have shown that coconut oil, in particular, has antifungal properties.
The team was led by microbiologist Carol Kumamoto, PhD, professor of molecular biology and microbiology at Tufts University School of Medicine and member of the molecular microbiology and genetics program faculties at the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts, and nutrition scientist Alice H. Lichtenstein, DSc, director of the Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory at the Jean Mayer United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts. They investigated the effects of three dietary fats on the amount of C. albicans in the mouse gut: coconut oil, beef tallow and soybean oil. A control group of mice were fed a standard diet. Coconut oil was selected based on previous studies that found the fat had antifungal properties in the laboratory setting.
A coconut oil–rich diet reduced C. albicans in the gut compared with that of beef tallow or soybean oil. Coconut oil alone, or the combination of coconut oil and beef tallow, reduced the amount of C. albicans in the gut by more than 90% compared with a diet rich in beef tallow.
In a new National Institutes of Health–funded study, Drs. Kumamoto and Lichtenstein designed high-fat diets containing coconut oil, beef tallow, soybean oil or a standard diet. Mice were fed these diets for 14 days before inoculation with C. albicans and 21 days after. At 21 days after inoculation, GI colonization with C. albicanswas significantly lower in the stomach contents of mice fed the coconut oil diet than mice fed the beef tallow diet (P<0.0001), soybean oil diet (P<0.0001) or the standard diet (P<0.0001). “When you compared a mouse on a high-fat diet that contained either beef fat or soy bean oil to mice eating coconut oil, there was about a 10-fold drop in colonization,” Dr. Kumamoto said.
In another experiment, the researchers switched mice on the beef tallow diet to the coconut oil diet. “Four days after the change in diet, the colonization changed so it looked almost exactly like what you saw in a mouse who had been on coconut oil the entire time,” Dr. Kumamoto said.
“Coconut oil even reduced fungal colonization when mice were switched from beef tallow to coconut oil, or when mice were fed both beef tallow and coconut oil at the same time. These findings suggest that adding coconut oil to a patient’s existing diet might control the growth of C. albicans in the gut, and possibly decrease the risk for fungal infections caused by C. albicans,” Dr. Kumamoto said.
“Food can be a powerful ally in reducing the risk of disease,” Dr. Lichtenstein said. “This study marks a first step in understanding how life-threatening yeast infections in susceptible individuals might be reduced through the short-term and targeted use of a specific type of fat. As exciting as these findings are, we have to keep in mind that the majority of adult Americans are at high risk for heart disease, the number one killer in the United States. The potential use of coconut oil in the short term to control the rate of fungal overgrowth should not be considered a prophylactic approach to preventing fungal infections.”
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