Finasteride Activity Against Candida Albicans

[nograde]

For those of you who don't believe in DHT as a cause for hairloss, this might be an alternative mechanism that could explain Finasteride's effectiveness. Note that 80% of population is infested with candida in the oral cavity and/or the GI tract, which is normally kept in check by the immune system with no obvious symptoms. Nevertheless even subclinical Candida infection could burden your organism.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25049253

Abstract
Candida albicans is the 3rd most common cause of catheter-associated urinary tract infections, with a strong propensity to form drug-resistant catheter-related biofilms. Due to the limited efficacy of available antifungals against biofilms, drug repurposing has been investigated in order to identify novel agents with activities against fungal biofilms. Finasteride is a 5-α-reductase inhibitor commonly used for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia, with activity against human type II and III isoenzymes. We analyzed the Candida Genome Database and identified a C. albicans homolog of type III 5-α-reductase, Dfg10p, which shares 27% sequence identity and 41% similarity to the human type III 5-α-reductase. Thus, we investigated finasteride for activity against C. albicans urinary biofilms, alone and in combination with amphotericin B or fluconazole. Finasteride alone was highly effective in the prevention of C. albicans biofilm formation at doses of ≥16 mg/liter and the treatment of preformed biofilms at doses of ≥128 mg/liter. In biofilm checkerboard analyses, finasteride exhibited synergistic activity in the prevention of biofilm formation in a combination of 4 mg/liter finasteride with 2 mg/liter fluconazole. Finasteride inhibited filamentation, thus suggesting a potential mechanism of action. These results indicate that finasteride alone is highly active in the prevention of C. albicans urinary biofilms in vitro and has synergistic activity in combination with fluconazole. Further investigation of the clinical utility of finasteride in the prevention of urinary candidiasis is warranted.

 

[Nabati]

That is fascinating. Maybe this is a little off topic, but a bizarre counter element is that one popular alternative theory about Post-Finasteride syndrome is that it causes candida overgrowth. Peat mentioned he believes PFS is the result of a chronic malfunction of the liver and intestines, but I don't yet understand the role the intestines play.

 

[TubZy]

interesting.........

 

[Rafael Lao Wai]

That is fascinating. Maybe this is a little off topic, but a bizarre counter element is that one popular alternative theory about Post-Finasteride syndrome is that it causes candida overgrowth. Peat mentioned he believes PFS is the result of a chronic malfunction of the liver and intestines, but I don't yet understand the role the intestines play.

Taking into account the original post's study, I wouldn't say it's out of the realm of possibility that stopping the finasteride will stop the anti- fungal effect, which will, of course give as much freedom to the fungus as it had before the usage of the drug, but now something is different: your hormones, including DHT, which are important for thyroid function, are lowered. This puts the person in an even worse condition than before, because, with even less acid in the stomach and the bile in the intestine due to worsened thyroid function, the fungus will have more freedom to to do damage. I wonder if this is part of what's happening to people who suffered post finasteride syndrome.

 

[Sexypizza]

I have PFS from Dutasteride and wanted to add my input,

I have candida I think, I got the white tongue, bloating and belching after most meals and sometimes white stringy candida biofilm in stools. There is def a connection between PFS and candida/sibo overgrowth in my experience.


Although in my case it seems like when first got PFS I was having more bacterial issues and then after trying to get rid of those issues by using anti-biotics it then developed into candida. When I first got PFS i had intenstinal issues and I would bloat sometimes but it was rare and I didn't have the white tongue and I could still digest a lot of foods, but after using anti-biotics and I think I ate some food that didn't agree with me, my intestinal issues flared up and I literally got the white tongue overnight. Woke up and it was there all of a sudden and it wouldn't go away.

My intestinal issues got worse from there, now there is a lot foods I suddenly cant eat anymore that I had no issues with before. Protien heavy or fat heavy foods almost always trigger severe bloating. I noticed that cheese in particular seems to trigger flare ups really badly and the next day my tongue is fully white. if I avoid trigger foods for a few days or weeks, my stomach acid returns to normal and Im able to digest things properly without bloating or belching too much. However, if I mess up and I eat something bad I can literally bloat for days and its painful. Cheese can bloat me for a week or more.

And I noticed it has big effects on my libido. The day I eat something that is triggering my libido and erections will be gone that day almost completely, but if I avoid those foods my libido gets better and erections are better but never goes 100% back to normal. Best I got was 80% or 90% of normal libido when a lot of things are right.


These issues were mysterious to me for a long time, i thought maybe it was just low stomach acid or SIBO but now that I know its candida im more hopeful and i think I will be able to beat it.

Carrot salad reduces the white tongue but doesn't get rid of it completely.
Aspirin seems to help, my stomach digests foods better the day after using aspiring.
HCL was a life savior for days when the bloating gets really bad.