Comparative virulence of Candida albicans yeast and filamentous forms in orally and intravenously inoculated mice.
Crit Care Med
; 31(2): 501-7, 2003 Feb.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-12576958
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
Candida albicans, a dimorphic fungus that switches from yeast to filamentous forms, is a major cause of complicating systemic infection in intensive care patients. The aim of this study was to compare the pathogenic potential of C. albicans yeast and filamentous forms.DESIGN:
Separate groups of mice were inoculated either intravenously or orally with C. albicans CAF2 (wild type), HLC54 (yeast forms defective in filament formation), or BCa2-10 (constitutively filamentous). Mice were killed 1, 7, 14, and 21 days after intravenous C. albicans and kidneys and liver were quantitatively cultured; cohort groups were observed for mortality. Mice were pretreated with antibiotics for 3 days before oral inoculation with C. albicans, and killed 3 days later with dexamethasone administered for the latter 3 days; at sacrifice, the mesenteric lymph nodes and kidneys were cultured to monitor extraintestinal dissemination of C. albicans.SETTING:
University teaching hospital research laboratory.SUBJECTS:
Female, Swiss Webster, adult mice. MEASUREMENTS AND MAINRESULTS:
In intravenously inoculated mice, mortality was highest with wild-type C. albicans CAF2 (92%), intermediate with HLC54 (56%), and not detected with constitutively filamentous BCa2-10 (0%); BCa2-10 was cleared from the kidney and liver, but CAF2 and HLC54 were recovered at approximately 10(5-7)/g kidney and 10(4-5)/g liver. There was only occasional mortality in orally inoculated mice and the numbers of cecal C. albicans CAF2 and HLC54 were similarly high (approximately 10(7)/g), whereas numbers of cecal BCa2-10 were at least 100-fold lower. Extraintestinal dissemination was greatest with HLC54, intermediate with CAF2, and undetectable with BCa2-10.CONCLUSIONS:
Of the three C. albicans strains studied, wild-type CAF2 was most virulent in intravenously inoculated mice and HLC54 (defective in filament formation) was most virulent in orally inoculated mice. The constitutively filamentous BCa2-10 was avirulent in both models, suggesting that filamentous forms by themselves might not be critically important for C. albicans virulence.
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Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Candida albicans
Limite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Crit Care Med
Ano de publicação:
2003
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Estados Unidos