Coconut oil has effectively controlled the overgrowth of a fungal pathogen called Candida albicans (C. albicans) in mice, finds an inter-disciplinary study led by researchers at Tufts University.
In humans, high levels of C. albicans in the gastrointestinal tract can lead to bloodstream infections, including invasive candidiasis.
The research, published in mSphere, suggests that it might be possible to use dietary approaches as an alternative to antifungal drugs in order to decrease the risk of infections caused by C. albicans.
C. albicans, a common fungal pathogen, is part of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract’s normal 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 blood infection among hospitalized patients in the US according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The infection is most common among immunocompromised patients, including premature infants and older adults.
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.
In order to prevent infections caused by C. albicans, the amount of C. albicans in the gastrointestinal tract needs to be reduced.
The team, led by microbiologist Carol Kumamoto and nutrition scientist Alice H. Lichtenstein, investigated the effects of three different 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 for mice.
Coconut oil was selected based on previous studies that found that the fat had antifungal properties in the laboratory setting.
A coconut oil-rich diet reduced C. albicans in the gut compared to a beef tallow-or soybean oil-rich diet.
Coconut oil or when combined with beef tallow, reduced the amount of C. albicans in the gut by more than 90% compared to a beef tallow-rich diet.
“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,” said Kumamoto, Ph.D., a professor of molecular biology and microbiology at Tufts University School of Medicine.
He is also a member of the molecular microbiology and genetics program faculties at the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences.
“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 of fungal infections caused by C. albicans.”
“We want to give clinicians a treatment option that might limit the need for antifungal drugs,” said first author Kearney Gunsalus, Ph.D., an Institutional Research and Academic Career Development postdoctoral fellow in Kumamoto’s lab.
“If we can use coconut oil as a safe, dietary alternative, we could decrease the amount of antifungal drugs used, reserving antifungal drugs for critical situations.”
Kumamoto, Gunsalus and Dr. Joseph Bliss at Brown/Women & Infants Hospital have proposed a clinical trial to assess the efficacy of coconut oil to reduce the amount of C. albicans in the gut of premature infants who are at high risk.
