ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Candida albicans has been implicated as the aetiological agent in a significant percentage of children with diarrhoea. The virulence properties of C. albicans strains associated with acute and chronic diarrhoea in hospitalized children were investigated. METHODS: The genotypic relationships between the isolates were determined using restriction enzyme analysis and hybridization with a C. albicans-specific DNA probe, 27A. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: In patients with acute and chronic diarrhoea, there is evidence for selection of specific, genetically distinct strains of C. albicans. Higher levels of secretory Candida acid proteinase produced by isolates from patients with acute diarrhoea may account for the more severe symptoms. However, the lower adherence of these isolates may predispose to the rapid (within 2 to 4 days) resolution of the condition. In patients with chronic diarrhoea the lower levels of proteinase produced correlate with the less severe symptoms, while the increased adherence may account for the persistence of the infection.
Subject(s)
Candida albicans/genetics , Candidiasis/complications , Diarrhea/microbiology , Endopeptidases/metabolism , Acute Disease , Candida albicans/enzymology , Candidiasis/microbiology , Child , Child, Preschool , Chronic Disease , Diarrhea/classification , Humans , Infant , Nucleic Acid HybridizationABSTRACT
Fifty-seven isolates of Candida albicans were obtained from different sites within the oral cavities of 18 dental patients without AIDS or any malignancies. Eleven of the patients had oral candidosis associated with the wearing of dentures. The genotypic relationships of the individual isolates were determined by hybridisation of a C. albicans-specific moderately repetitive sequence, 27A, to EcoRI-digested C. albicans chromosomal DNA. From the DNA profiles, the isolates could be divided into 22 distinct genetic groups. In the majority of patients, a single unique strain of C. albicans appeared to dominate in the oral cavity. Re-infection following antifungal therapy was generally due to the re-emergence of the original infecting strain. The C. albicans strains isolated from dental plates did not form a distinct genetic group. These results suggest that denture stomatitis is due to the outgrowth of commensal strains of C. albicans.
Subject(s)
Candida albicans/classification , Candidiasis, Oral/microbiology , DNA, Fungal/analysis , Dentures/adverse effects , Stomatitis/microbiology , Blotting, Southern , Candida albicans/genetics , Candida albicans/growth & development , Candidiasis, Oral/etiology , Genotype , Humans , Phenotype , Restriction Mapping , Stomatitis/etiologyABSTRACT
Three groups of male sheep were used. Group one was not inoculated; group two was inoculated with T. rhodesiense homogonate and group three with T. rhodesiense "fraction 3". Subsequently they were challenged with 1 x 10(6) T. vivax. Group inoculated with T. rhodesiense fraction 3 had high IgG levels and parasitemia was absent.
