Sustainable system for the treatment of vaginal diseases, part I – pre-clinical laboratory study A holistic approach, to address the state of the vaginal biofilm using natural substances, enzymes and bacteria to stabilise the system. In the first set of experiments, we showed that yeast (Candida albicans) growth inhibition promoted by unique combination of Lactobacilli species and yeast-specific degradative enzymes. Part I of the research, based on sample received from the clinic taken from women of different ethnic groups who suffered from one or more symptoms as well as, healthy women. We understand that the main problem of the low successes of the recommended treatment is the biofilms. Vaginal swabbing to collect vaginal samples from women was carried out with the approval of the Helsinki Committee at an HMO clinic in Haifa and with informed consent obtained for each subject. Our first step in the research was to create a condition for the development of biofilm that will be similar to the source. We chose candida as a representative pathogen. In this research we developed methods that enables us to prove under laboratory condition the following steps: A) to grow biofilms from vaginal biofilms samples of women from different ethnic groups. B) decomposed any kind of vagina biofilm of all the ethnic groups that we tested. C). eradication of pathogens originating from the biofilm that has been dismantled. D) construction of a new vaginal biofilm that will be sustainable and has a suppressive feature (inhibiting) integration of vaginal pathogens.
There are over 200 million annual cases worldwide of vaginitis.1,2 FemLife is targeting the multi-billion-dollar worldwide women’s health market for treating vaginal infections while finding an innovative solution for recurrent vaginal infections.6,7,8 FemLife’s advanced local treatment aims to heal and improve vaginal health by creating healthy flora, with the aim of replacing other drugs,9 and can be used as prevention for the development of recurrent infections. The average prevalence in the world for vaginal infections in women for vaginal yeast (Candida) is about 27% and for Bacterial Vaginosis over 40%. The total number of recurrent and chronic vulvovaginal diseases in the world is over 50 million women every year. It is well-known phenomena that each ethnic group is characterised by a different microbiome, a different biofilm naturally developed in the vagina.3,4,5,8,9
Materials and Methods
In vitro Yeast and Lactobacilli Culture and Co-Culture and Viability Effects:
Candida albicans strains used in this study are listed in Table 1. Wild-type (WT-1) Candida albicans was isolated from an infected woman in a Health Clinic,6 in accordance with Helsinki protocols, and as described in12 and confirmed using the Chromogenic medium – CHROMagar (CHROMagar Candida, France). Pure cultures were stored frozen in small aliquots (1ml) in glycerol (50% V/V). Strains were sub-cultured from freezer stocks on YPD plates containing yeast extract, peptone, dextrose and incubated at 37 °C overnight.
