Adherence and Biofilm Formation in Candida albicans Strains Isolated from Different Infection Sites in Hospitalized Patients

2018 ◽  
Vol 68 (12) ◽  
pp. 2832-2835
Author(s):  
Omar Sadik ◽  
Lia Mara Ditu ◽  
Irina Gheorghe ◽  
Gratiela Gradisteanu Pircalabioru ◽  
Coralia Bleotu ◽  
...  

Adherence of Candida albicans to the cellular and inert substratum contributes to its commensal status, but also plays an essential role in the development of fungal infections, particularly in hospitalized and immunodepressed patients. This study evaluated the adherence capacity and biofilm formation of 109 C. albicans strains isolated from upper respiratory tract secretions, wound secretions, urine culture, blood culture and stool culture taken from patients hospitalized for cardiovascular surgery. The strains were originally identified as C. albicans, based on their morphological characteristics and then confirmed by the Vitek II automatic system. All tested strains adhered to the cellular substratum, the isolates from stool culture, urine and thrush secretion exhibiting the most intensive adhesion capacity, the predominant adherence pattern being the aggregative one. Patient age and gender did not exhibit a significant influence on the adhesion process. The strains with the highest biofilm production capacity were the ones isolated from respiratory tract secretions and urine cultures. Statistically significant correlations could be established among a high number of yeast cells adhered to HeLa cells and i) the aggregative adherence pattern and ii) the moderate to high capacity to form biofilms on the inert substratum. These results could suggest the implication of common fungal structures in the colonization of inert and cellular substrata, while the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms involved in these processes could bring an important benefit to the appropriate management of fungal infections, depending on the isolation source.

2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-112
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Grzegorczyk ◽  
Anna Biernasiuk ◽  
Izabela Mahorowska-Kiciak ◽  
Anna Malm

2007 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 931-939 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fang Li ◽  
Michael J. Svarovsky ◽  
Amy J. Karlsson ◽  
Joel P. Wagner ◽  
Karen Marchillo ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Candida albicans is the leading cause of systemic fungal infections in immunocompromised humans. The ability to form biofilms on surfaces in the host or on implanted medical devices enhances C. albicans virulence, leading to antimicrobial resistance and providing a reservoir for infection. Biofilm formation is a complex multicellular process consisting of cell adhesion, cell growth, morphogenic switching between yeast form and filamentous states, and quorum sensing. Here we describe the role of the C. albicans EAP1 gene, which encodes a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored, glucan-cross-linked cell wall protein, in adhesion and biofilm formation in vitro and in vivo. Deleting EAP1 reduced cell adhesion to polystyrene and epithelial cells in a gene dosage-dependent manner. Furthermore, EAP1 expression was required for C. albicans biofilm formation in an in vitro parallel plate flow chamber model and in an in vivo rat central venous catheter model. EAP1 expression was upregulated in biofilm-associated cells in vitro and in vivo. Our results illustrate an association between Eap1p-mediated adhesion and biofilm formation in vitro and in vivo.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Ma ◽  
Minhua Xu ◽  
Hancong Liu ◽  
Tiantian Yu ◽  
Ping Guo ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: As we all know, bacterial and fungal infections have become one of the threats to human health. Microbial secondary metabolites are one of the main sources of bioactive natural products. It is estimated that around 60% of all foregone antibiotics are derived from secondary metabolites produced by filamentous actinomycete bacteria. Gordonia spp. are members of the actinomycete family, their contribution to the environment improvement and environmental protection by their biological degradation ability, but there are few studies on their antimicrobial activity of their secondary metabolites. Our team isolated a Gordonia strain WA 4-31 with anti-Candida albicans activity from the intestinal tract of Periplaneta americana in the early stage.Results: In this study, we firstly identified the strain WA 4-31 by the morphological characteristics and the phylogenetic analyses, and found that it homologous to a strain of Gordonia from the Indian desert (EU333873) by 100%. Then four compounds, Actinomycin D (1), Actinomycin X2 (2), Mojavensin A (3) and cyclic (leucine-leucne) dipeptide (4) were purified from the EtOH extract of the fermented broth of the strain. The compounds 1-4 had activities against Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus fumigatus and Trichophyton rubrum. They also had activities against MRSA, S.aureus, K.peneumoniae and E.coli in different degree. The minimum inhibitory concentration of Actinomycin D and Actinomycin X2 on MASA was 0.25 μg/mL. Interestingly, we found that when Mojavensin A was mixed with compound 4 ratio of 1:1, the solution of the compounds was better than the single on anti-Candida albicans. Besides, compounds 1-3 had varying degrees of cytotoxicity on CNE-2 cells and HepG-2 cells.Conclusions: The present study firstly reported the antimicrobial compounds isolated from Gordonia. These indicated that rare actinomycetes from the intestinal tract of Periplaneta americana possessed a potential as a source of active secondary metabolites.


Author(s):  
Avis Aman Nowbuth ◽  
Josh Barrie Armstrong ◽  
Thomas Eugene Cloete ◽  
Pieter Rousseau Fourie

Sanitisation has become a major component of everyday life, with emphasis on the hands and surfaces. The face remains unsanitised due to the lack of an acceptable sanitiser. The use of masks has been mandated to reduce the spread of the pathogens by covering the face, however, there remain issues with the use of personal protective equipment. The face remains a harbour for upper respiratory tract infections, with constant deposition of microbes. By reducing microbial load, the risk of both infection and severity are reduced. HOCl has proven antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activity, including efficacy against SARS-CoV-2. A facial sanitiser, alongside hand sanitisers and masks, improves protection against SARS-CoV-2. The advantages of regular sanitising of the face and mask include reduced level of microbial contamination, risk of biofilm formation, and respiratory tract and skin infections. HOCl was reviewed as a face and mask sanitiser, concluding that it was an ideal product.


1999 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 763-768 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kien C. Ha ◽  
Theodore C. White

ABSTRACT Oral infections caused by the yeast Candida albicansare some of the most frequent and earliest opportunistic infections in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients. The widespread use of azole antifungal drugs has led to the development of drug resistance, creating a major problem in the treatment of yeast infections in AIDS patients and other immunocompromised individuals. Several molecular mechanisms that contribute to drug resistance have been identified. InC. albicans, the ability to morphologically switch from yeast cells (blastospores) to filamentous forms (hyphae) is an important virulence factor which contributes to the dissemination ofCandida in host tissues and which promotes infection and invasion. A positive correlation between the level of antifungal drug resistance and the ability to form hyphae in the presence of azole drugs has been identified. Under hypha-inducing conditions in the presence of an azole drug, resistant clinical isolates form hyphae, while susceptible yeast isolates do not. This correlation is observed in a random sample from a population of susceptible and resistant isolates and is independent of the mechanisms of resistance.35S-methionine incorporation suggests that growth inhibition is not sufficient to explain the inhibition of hyphal formation, but it may contribute to this inhibition.


2010 ◽  
Vol 54 (9) ◽  
pp. 3964-3966 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vivian Tullio ◽  
Narcisa Mandras ◽  
Daniela Scalas ◽  
Valeria Allizond ◽  
Giuliana Banche ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The influence of caspofungin on polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) phagocytosis and intracellular killing of Candida albicans was investigated. Caspofungin, at all of the concentrations tested (2, 3.2, and 8 μg/ml), significantly increased intracellular killing by PMNs through its direct action on both yeast cells and PMNs, indicating the potential ability of caspofungin to synergize with phagocytes for candidal killing. Caspofungin may therefore constitute an effective therapeutic option for the treatment of invasive fungal infections, including those refractory to conventional treatment with azole agents.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soumya Palliyil ◽  
Mark Mawer ◽  
Sami Alwafi ◽  
Lily Fogg ◽  
Giuseppe Buda De Cesare ◽  
...  

MAb based immunotherapies targeting systemic and deep-seated fungal infections are still in their early stages of development with currently no licensed antifungal mAbs available. The cell wall glycoproteins of Candida albicans are potential targets for therapeutic antibody generation due to their extracellular location and key involvement in fungal pathogenesis. We describe phage display based generation of recombinant human antibodies specifically targeting two key cell wall proteins (CWPs) in C. albicans - Utr2 and Pga31, using peptide antigens representing the surface exposed regions of CWPs at elevated levels during in vivo infection. Reformatted mAbs preferentially recognised C. albicans hyphal forms compared to yeast cells and an increased binding in cells pre-treated with caspofungin. In macrophage interaction assays, mAb pre-treatment resulted in a faster engulfment of C. albicans cells suggesting opsonophagocytosis. Finally, in a series of clinically predictive, mouse models of systemic candidiasis, our lead mAb achieved an improved survival (83%) and several log reduction of fungal burden in the kidneys, similar to levels achieved for the fungicidal drug caspofungin, and superior to any anti-Candida mAb.


Author(s):  
Avis Aman Nowbuth ◽  
Josh Barrie Armstrong ◽  
Thomas Eugene Cloete ◽  
Pieter Rousseau Fourie

Sanitisation has become a major component of everyday life, with emphasis on the hands and surfaces. The face remains unsanitised due to the lack of an acceptable sanitiser. The use of masks has been mandated to reduce the spread of the pathogens by covering the face, however, there remain issues with the use of personal protective equipment. The face remains a harbour for upper respiratory tract infections, with constant deposition of microbes. By reducing microbial load, the risk of both infection and severity are reduced. HOCl has proven antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activity, including efficacy against SARS-CoV-2. A facial sanitiser, alongside hand sanitisers and masks, improves protection against SARS-CoV-2. The advantages of regular sanitising of the face and mask include reduced level of microbial contamination, risk of biofilm formation, and respiratory tract and skin infections. HOCl was reviewed as a face and mask sanitiser, concluding that it was an ideal product.


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