Murine vaginal candidiasis model

The murine vaginal candidiasis model was established with Kunming mice following a previously described method with minor modifications [20–22]. Fifty-three female Kunming mice (28–32 g body weight) were used at 7 to 8 weeks of age. The mice were randomly assigned to 2 groups with five mice each: either vehicle or suloctidil and were maintained under a pseudoestrus condition by subcutaneous injection of 0.2 mg of estradiol benzoate (every other day, CEN’S, Hangzhou, China) 7 days prior to infection and until the completion of the study. A C. albicans suspension (1×10⁷ cells/mL) in 20 μL of PBS was administered to the vaginas of the mice. The filaments in the mouse vaginas were observed after 7 days of infection. Intravaginal treatment with 50 μL of 256 μg/mL suloctidil was administered into the vaginas of mice every day until day +21. PBS was used as a control. After various treatment times, the mice were sacrificed and the vaginal lumen was thoroughly washed and scraped with 1 mL of PBS. To determine the fungal load in the vagina, 100 μL of lavage fluid from each mouse was plated on YPD agar plus ceftriaxone (50 μg/mL, Roche, Basel, Switzerland). CFUs were then evaluated.