Sometimes conventional medical research sounds eerily like functional medicine conferences I attend. In this case, University of Buffalo researchers promote starving yeast infections of iron. In mice they used deferasirox to bind iron in saliva. This lowering of iron in the mice mouths lowered the organism’s survival rate.
As the resistance of yeast to pharma anti-fungals grows, novel treatment therapies are being explored by conventional medicine. Science has recognized yeast’s utilization of iron for its metabolic processes for a long term. Now, ingenious researchers have repurposed a drug used for iron overload diseases and tested it in animal studies of yeast infection.
While the therapy did not cause iron deficiency in mice already iron replete, the survival rate of yeast was cut in half. While this is not an FDA approved therapy, the role of iron and iron toxicity appear to be potential treatment targets in the near future. Another opportunity to apply the wisdom of research to restore patients back to healthier, more abundant lives.
Primary Source:
Sumant Puri, Rohitashw Kumar, Isolde G. Rojas, Ornella Salvatori, Mira Edgerton. Iron Chelator Deferasirox Reduces Candida albicans Invasion of Oral Epithelial Cells and Infection Levels in Murine Oropharyngeal Candidiasis. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 2019; 63 (4) DOI: 10.1128/AAC.02152-18
Secondary Source and thanks to Science Daily:
University at Buffalo. “Drug-resistant infections: If you can’t beat ’em, starve ’em, scientists find.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 24 May 2019. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/05/190524130224.htm>.
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
