{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]],"date-time":"2026-09-24T05:02:13Z","timestamp":1790226133363,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]],"date-time":"2026-09-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790208000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      <jats:italic>Candida<\/jats:italic>\n                      species are among the most important opportunistic fungal pathogens responsible for superficial mucosal infections and life-threatening invasive candidiasis, particularly in immunocompromised individuals. The increasing prevalence of antifungal resistance, biofilm-associated tolerance, and the emergence of multidrug-resistant species such as\n                      <jats:italic>Candida auris<\/jats:italic>\n                      have highlighted the need for alternative or adjunctive therapeutic strategies. Probiotics have emerged as promising microbiome-based interventions owing to their ability to inhibit\n                      <jats:italic>Candida<\/jats:italic>\n                      growth, suppress virulence traits, restore microbial homeostasis, and modulate host immune responses.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      This systematic review comprehensively evaluated the experimental and mechanistic evidence regarding the anti-\n                      <jats:italic>Candida<\/jats:italic>\n                      activity of probiotics and probiotic-derived products. A systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science for studies published between 1 January 2015 and 5 January 2026 in accordance with PRISMA 2020 guidelines. Studies meeting the predefined eligibility criteria were included in the qualitative synthesis.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Eighteen studies met the predefined eligibility criteria. Most studies investigated\n                      <jats:italic>Lactobacillus<\/jats:italic>\n                      species, followed by\n                      <jats:italic>Bifidobacterium<\/jats:italic>\n                      ,\n                      <jats:italic>Saccharomyces<\/jats:italic>\n                      , and probiotic-derived metabolites or postbiotics, using predominantly\n                      <jats:italic>in vitro<\/jats:italic>\n                      models with limited\n                      <jats:italic>in vivo<\/jats:italic>\n                      evidence. Across studies, probiotics consistently demonstrated anti-\n                      <jats:italic>Candida<\/jats:italic>\n                      activity through inhibition of fungal growth, adhesion, yeast-to-hyphal transition, biofilm formation, and virulence-associated gene expression. Additional mechanisms included the production of antimicrobial metabolites, competitive exclusion, immune modulation, enhancement of epithelial barrier function, and restoration of microbial homeostasis. Emerging evidence also supports the antifungal potential of postbiotics and activity against non-albicans\n                      <jats:italic>Candida<\/jats:italic>\n                      species and\n                      <jats:italic>Candida auris<\/jats:italic>\n                      , although available evidence remains limited. Considerable heterogeneity in probiotic strains, experimental models, methodologies, and outcome measures precluded quantitative meta-analysis.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Current evidence supports probiotics and postbiotics as promising microbiome-based strategies for reducing\n                      <jats:italic>Candida<\/jats:italic>\n                      pathogenicity; however, the available evidence remains predominantly preclinical. Well-designed clinical studies are required to establish strain-specific efficacy, optimal formulations, dosing strategies, safety, and therapeutic applicability before routine clinical implementation.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Systematic review registration<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      <jats:ext-link>https:\/\/www.crd.york.ac.uk\/prospero\/view\/CRD420261278363<\/jats:ext-link>\n                      , identifier CRD420261278363.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fcimb.2026.1894309","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]],"date-time":"2026-09-24T04:36:37Z","timestamp":1790224597000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Harnessing probiotics against candidiasis: a systematic review of experimental and mechanistic evidence"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Taparia","family":"Saloni","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, School of Life Sciences, JSS Academy of Higher Education & Research","place":["Mysuru, India"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nagaraju","family":"Chaithra","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Medical Statistics, School of Life Sciences, JSS Academy of Higher Education & Research","place":["Mysuru, India"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shivaswamy","family":"Umamaheshwari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, School of Life Sciences, JSS Academy of Higher Education & Research","place":["Mysuru, India"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bioflm.2023.100126","article-title":"Antifungal therapy of Candida biofilms: past, present and future","volume":"5","author":"Ajetunmobi","year":"2023","journal-title":"Biofilm"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"8249","DOI":"10.1080\/10408398.2021.1926905","article-title":"Application of probiotics in candidiasis management","volume":"62","author":"Andrade","year":"2022","journal-title":"Crit. 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