tunistic fungal disease in humans. In fact, this fungus is also known as the fourth leading cause of nosocomial infections. Over the past few decades, increasing incidence of candidiasis due to this fungus parallels the growing numbers of immmunocompromised people. In immunocompromised people, disseminated candidiasis is sometimes a serious disease which often results in death. In addition to t...

Candida albicans PALS-green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter strains were inoculated into mice in a disseminated candidiasis model, and GFP production was monitored by immunohistochemistry and reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR). GFP production from the ALS1 and ALS3 promoters was detected immunohistochemically. ALS1, ALS2, ALS3, ALS4, and ALS9 transcription was detected by RT-PCR, further ide...

Our research on pathogenesis of disseminated candidiasis led to the discovery that antibodies specific for Candida albicans cell surface β-1, 2-mannotriose [β-(Man)(3)] protect mice. A 14 mer peptide Fba, which derived from the N-terminal portion of the C. albicans cytosolic/cell surface protein fructose-bisphosphate aldolase, was used as the glycan carrier and resulted in a novel synthetic gly...

A method is described for the simultaneous quantitation of D-arabinitol and D-mannose in serum by gas-liquid chromatography as an aid for the diagnosis of disseminated candidiasis. Both variables were observed as per-O-acetylated aldononitrile derivatives in each chromatographic run of sera from immunosuppressed rabbits experimentally infected with Candida albicans 3181A.

Disseminated cryptococcosis developed in an HIV antibody positive patient who was taking fluconazole for oral candidiasis. This case highlights the poor response to therapy that may be seen, and the severe pulmonary complications that may ensue. The use of fluconazole prior to the development of cryptococcosis did not confer protection.

Infections may require discontinuation of antineoplastic chemotherapy, which, in turn, renders patients vulnerable to disease progression or relapse. We identified six patients with acute leukemia in whom antineoplastic treatment had to be discontinued because of chronic disseminated candidiasis (CDC). However, despite minimal antileukemic treatment, all patients remained in complete remission....

As the mortality associated with invasive Candida infections remains high, it is important to make optimal use of available diagnostic tools to initiate antifungal therapy as early as possible and to select the most appropriate antifungal drug. A panel of experts of the European Fungal Infection Study Group (EFISG) of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID...

We have observed that human neutrophils (polymorphonuclear leukocytes [PMNs]) have an increased growth-inhibitory and killing effect on a strain of Candida albicans with a deletion of CHK1, a gene encoding a putative histidine kinase. The PMN effect was not due to increased phagocytosis of the null strain. This observation may partially explain the reduced virulence in a hematogenously dissemin...

The pathogenicity of the fungus Geotrichum candidum in humans has not been clearly defined. A patient with acute leukemia who developed a fatal disseminated G. candidum infection while neutropenic is described. At autopsy examination, this patient was misdiagnosed on the basis of histopathology as having disseminated candidiasis until G. candidum was isolated from postmortem culture specimens. ...

Candida albicans must penetrate the endothelial cell lining of the vasculature to invade the deep tissues during a hematogenously disseminated infection. We compared 27 C. albicans mutants with their wild-type parent for their capacity to damage endothelial cells in vitro and cause a lethal infection in mice following tail vein inoculation. Of 10 mutants with significantly impaired capacity to ...