Candida are true ‘opportunistic pathogens’ and only instigate oral infection when there is an underlying predisposing condition in the host. Oropharyngeal candidiasis is a common occurrence in the course of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease progression. The majority of infections are due to Candida albicans although other species such as Candida glabrata, Candida tropicalis, Candida kr...

Seven young men developed disseminated candidiasis within 10 days of a single episode of intravenous heroin abuse. Sequential development of eye and skin lesions was noted in all cases. The bone or costal cartilage was involved in five. Ocular manifestations of candidiasis included episcleritis, chorioretinitis, and endophthalmitis. A presumptive diagnosis of candida chorioretinitis was establi...

BACKGROUND Determination of β-D-Glucan (BDG) in the serum aids to diagnose the invasive fungal infections. The current study evaluated the diagnostic potential value of BDG assay in monitoring the disease in experimental systemic candidiasis in a rat model. The results can provide a useful preliminary data to improve this approach in developing countries. OBJECTIVES The present study aimed to...

BACKGROUND The morphogenetic conversion between yeast and hyphal growth forms appears to be crucial in the pathogenesis of invasive candidiasis, and can be regulated by environmental signals such as extracellular pH. AIMS To characterise the epitope recognised by monoclonal antibody 1H4, and to evaluate the expression of its corresponding epitope in Candida albicans cells under different cond...

Oral candidiasis is a significant health problem in terms of both morbidity and economic outlay. Infections are predominantly caused by the commensal C. albicans, and affect immunocompromised individuals, including HIV-positive and AIDS patients, organ transplant recipients and chemotherapy patients. The molecular and cellular immune mechanisms involved in protection from and responses to oral ...

Mucocutaneous candidiasis (MC) is one of the first signs of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Over 90% of patients with AIDS will eventually develop oropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC) at some time during their illness, and an additional 10% will develop esophageal candidiasis (EC). Although numerous antifungal agents are available, azoles, both topical (clotrimazole) and systemic (fluc...

The intracellular enzyme urea amidolyase (Dur1,2p) enables C. albicans to utilize urea as a sole nitrogen source. Because deletion of the DUR1,2 gene reduces survival of C. albicans co-cultured with a murine macrophage cell line, we investigated the role of Dur1,2p in pathogenesis using a mouse model of disseminated candidiasis. A dur1,2Δ/dur1,2Δ strain was significantly less virulent than the ...

Colony counts, scanning electron microscopy, and light microscopy were used to assess the capacity of Candida albicans to colonize (naturally) and infect the alimentary tract of adult and neonatal (athymic [nu/nu] or heterozygous [+/nu] littermates) germfree BALB/c mice. When exposed to yeast-phase C. albicans, the alimentary tract of adult germfree mice (nu/nu or +/nu) is quickly (within 24 to...

  Thymoma is a term that should be restricted to neoplasms of thymic epithelial cells, irrespective of the presence or the number of lymphocytes. The usual location of thymoma is the antrosuperior mediastinum; however, this tumor can also occur in other mediastinal compartments, in the neck, within the thyroid gland, in the pericardial cavity, the pulmonary hilum, within the lung parenchyma, o...