In vivo and in vitro Pathogenesis and Virulence Factors of Candida albicans Strains Isolated from Cutaneous Candidiasis

Authors
Golnar Sadeghi 1
Seyed Fazllolah Mousavi 2
Mina Ebrahimi-Rad 3
Esmat Mirabzadeh-Ardekani 4
Ali Eslamifar 5
Masoomeh Shams-Ghahfarokhi 6
Zahra Jahanshiri 1
Mehdi Razzaghi-Abyaneh 1
1 Department of Medical Mycology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran 1316943551, Iran.
2 Department of Microbiology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran 1316943551, Iran.
3 Department of Biochemistry, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran 1316943551, Iran.
4 Department of Medical Biotechnology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran 13164, Iran.
5 Department of Clinical Research, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran 13164, Iran.
6 Department of Medical Mycology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran 14115-331, Iran
10.29252/ibj.24.5.319
Abstract
Background: The Candida albicans is one of the most important global opportunistic pathogens, and the incidence of candidiasis has increased over the past few decades. Despite the established role of skin in defense against fungal invasion, little has been documented about the pathogenesis of Candida species when changing from normal flora to pathogens of vaginal and gastrointestinal epithelia. This study was carried out to determine the in vivo and in vitro pathogenesis of clinical C. albicans strains isolated from skin lesions. Methods: In this study, association of in vivo and in vitro pathogenesis of C. albicans isolates with different evolutionary origins was investigated. Oral and systemic experimental candidiasis was established in BALB/C mice. The expression levels of secreted aspartyl proteinases (SAP1-3 genes), morphological transformation, and biofilm-forming ability of C. albicans were evaluated. Results: All the strains showed in vitro and in vivo pathogenicity by various extents. The SAP1, SAP2, and SAP3 genes were expressed in 50%, 100%, and 75% of the strains, respectively. The biofilm formation ability was negative in 12% of the strains, while it was considerable in 38% of the strains. Fifty percent of the strains had no phospholipase activity, and no one demonstrated high level of this pathogenesis factor. Relatively all the strains had very low potency to form pseudohyphae. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrated that Candida albicans strains isolated from cutaneous candidiasis were able to cause oral and systemic infections in mice, so they could be considered as the potential agents of life-threatening nosocomial candidiasis in susceptible populations.
Keywords
Candida albicans
Experimental candidiasis
in vivo pathogenicity
Virulence Factors