title: The effect of eating sea cucumber jelly on Candida load in the oral cavity of elderly individuals in a nursing home.
abstract: We conducted a double-blind randomized controlled study of elderly individuals in a nursing home to investigate the effect of the consumption of jelly containing sea cucumber on their oral Candida load. The jelly contained a hydrolysate of the sea cucumber Stichopus japonicus, which contained triterpene glycosides called holotoxins. The holotoxins worked as a fungicide, and their minimum inhibitory concentrations for Candida albicans were 7 µg/mL. Eight individuals in the nursing home took the sea cucumber jelly for a week and their oral Candida were counted before and after the intervention. Nine individuals took a control jelly without S. japonicus. The sea cucumber jelly showed inhibitory effects on the oral Candida. Thus, daily consumption of the S. japonicus jelly has the potential to reduce the oral Candida load in the elderly in nursing homes.
authors: Iwate Biotechnology Research Center, Kitakami, Iwate 024-0003, Japan. akiray@ibrc.or.jp.
authors: Akira
authors: A
authors: Yano
authors: Akiko
authors: A
authors: Abe
authors: Fumie
authors: F
authors: Aizawa
authors: Hidetoshi
authors: H
authors: Yamada
authors: Kentaro
authors: K
authors: Minami
authors: Miki
authors: M
authors: Matsui
authors: Mitsuo
authors: M
authors: Kishi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002175:Candida / Q000187:drug effects*; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000187:drug effects; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004435:Eating; D006801:Humans; D009055:Mouth / Q000382:microbiology*; D009735:Nursing Homes; D012616:Sea Cucumbers / Q000378:metabolism*; D047528:Stichopus / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents