Mechanism of Vaginal Epithelial Cell Pyroptosis Induced by the NLRP3 Inflammasome in Vulvovaginal Candidiasis

ABSTRACT Problem Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) is a common mucosal fungal infection, and Candida albicans is the main causative agent. The NLRP3 inflammasome plays an important role in VVC, but the underlying mechanism is unknown. Method of Study Vaginal epithelial cells were divided into three groups: control, C. albicans strain SC5314 (wild‐type, WT), and WT+ Matt Cooper Compound 950 (MCC950, a specific NLRP3 inhibitor). After human vaginal epithelial cells were pretreated with 1 µmol/L MCC950 for 2 h, C. albicans (MOI = 1) was cocultured with the human vaginal epithelial cells for 12 h. The cell supernatants were collected, LDH was detected, and the IL‐1β and IL‐18 levels were determined by ELISA. The expression of the pyroptosis‐related proteins NLRP3, Caspase‐1 p20 and GSDMD was measured by Western blotting analysis. The protein expression of the pyroptosis‐related N‐terminus of GSDMD (GSDMD‐N) was detected by immunofluorescence. Results In this study, we showed that the WT C. albicans strain induced pyroptosis in vaginal epithelial cells, as indicated by the LDH and proinflammatory cytokine levels and the upregulated levels of the pyroptosis‐related proteins NLRP3, Caspase‐1 p20, and GSDMD‐N. MCC950 reversed the changes in the expression of these proteins and proinflammatory cytokines in vaginal epithelial cells. Conclusion C. albicans activated the NLRP3 inflammasome to induce vaginal epithelial cell pyroptosis. MCC950 inhibited the NLRP3 inflammasome, reduced vaginal epithelial cell pyroptosis, and decreased the release of inflammatory cytokines.