PDF(Pubmed)
Abstract：
Candida albicans, a ubiquitous opportunistic fungal pathogen, plays a pivotal role in human health and disease. As a commensal organism, it normally resides harmlessly within the human microbiota. However, under certain conditions, C. albicans can transition into a pathogenic state, leading to various infections collectively known as candidiasis. With the increasing prevalence of immunocompromised individuals and the widespread use of invasive medical procedures, candidiasis has become a significant public health concern. The emergence of drug-resistant strains further complicates treatment options, highlighting the urgent need for alternative therapeutic strategies. Antifungal peptides (AFPs) have gained considerable attention as potential candidates for combating Candida spp. infections. These naturally occurring peptides possess broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity, including specific efficacy against C. albicans. AFPs exhibit several advantageous properties, such as rapid killing kinetics, low propensity for resistance development, and diverse mechanisms of action, making them promising alternatives to conventional antifungal agents. In recent years, extensive research has focused on discovering and developing novel AFPs with improved efficacy and selectivity against Candida species. Advances in biotechnology and synthetic peptide design have enabled the modification and optimization of natural peptides, enhancing their stability, bioavailability, and therapeutic potential. Nevertheless, several challenges must be addressed before AFPs can be widely implemented in clinical practice. These include optimizing peptide stability, enhancing delivery methods, overcoming potential toxicity concerns, and conducting comprehensive preclinical and clinical studies. This commentary presents a short overview of candidemia and AFP; articles and reviews published in the last 10 years were searched on The National Library of Medicine (National Center for Biotechnology Information-NIH-PubMed). The terms used were C. albicans infections, antimicrobial peptides, antifungal peptides, antifungal peptides mechanisms of action, candidemia treatments and guidelines, synthetic peptides and their challenges, and antimicrobial peptides in clinical trials as the main ones. Older publications were cited if they brought some relevant concept or helped to bring a perspective into our narrative. Articles older than 20 years and those that appeared in PubMed but did not match our goal to bring updated information about using antifungal peptides as an alternative to C. albicans infections were not considered.
摘要：
白色念珠菌,一种无处不在的机会性真菌病原体，在人类健康和疾病中起着举足轻重的作用。作为共生生物，它通常无害地存在于人类微生物群中。然而,在一定条件下,白色念珠菌可以转变为致病状态，导致各种感染统称为念珠菌病。随着免疫受损个体的日益流行和侵入性医疗程序的广泛使用，念珠菌病已成为重大的公共卫生问题。耐药菌株的出现进一步使治疗方案复杂化,强调迫切需要替代治疗策略。抗真菌肽（AFP）作为对抗念珠菌属的潜在候选者已引起广泛关注。感染。这些天然存在的肽具有广谱抗微生物活性，包括针对白色念珠菌的具体功效。AFP表现出几种有利的特性，如快速杀伤动力学，抗性发展倾向低，和不同的行动机制，使它们成为传统抗真菌剂的有希望的替代品。近年来,广泛的研究集中在发现和开发新型AFPs，这些AFPs对念珠菌物种具有改进的功效和选择性。生物技术和合成肽设计的进步使天然肽的修饰和优化成为可能，增强其稳定性,生物利用度，和治疗潜力。然而，在临床实践中广泛实施AFP之前，必须解决几个挑战。这些包括优化肽的稳定性，加强交付方法，克服潜在的毒性问题，并进行全面的临床前和临床研究。本评论简要介绍了念珠菌病和AFP；在国家医学图书馆（国家生物技术信息中心-NIH-PubMed）上搜索了过去10年发表的文章和评论。使用的术语是白色念珠菌感染，抗菌肽，抗真菌肽，抗真菌肽的作用机制，念珠菌血症治疗和指南，合成肽及其挑战，以抗菌肽和抗菌肽为主要临床试验。如果较旧的出版物带来了一些相关的概念或有助于将视角带入我们的叙述，则会被引用。文章年龄超过20年，那些出现在PubMed，但不符合我们的目标，带来有关使用抗真菌肽作为替代白色念珠菌感染的最新信息不考虑。
