Differences in virulence of clinical isolates of Candida tropicalis and Candida albicans in mice

John R. Wingard, James D. Dick, William G. Merz, Gordon R. Sandford, Rein Saral, William H. Burns

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

56 Scopus citations

Abstract

Prior reports from this institution indicated that Candida tropicalis was more pathogenic than C. albicans in oncology patients. Pairs of clinical isolates of C. tropicalis and C. albicans recovered from similar patients at other institutions were examined to determine their relative virulence. After intravenous inoculation in normal mice, three pairs of isolates had no significant differences in the 50% lethal dose, and one C. tropicalis isolate was less virulent than its companion C. albicans isolate. In contrast, in mice treated with antibiotics and cytarabine, an antineoplastic drug which damages the gastrointestinal mucosa and produces granulocytopenia, oral inoculation of yeast cells produced striking differences in the 50% infective dose: each C. tropicalis isolate was more virulent than the companion C. albicans isolate from the same institution. The increased virulence of the C. tropicalis isolates compared with the C. albicans isolates when given orally to compromised mice parallels clinical observations in compromised patients.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)833-836
Number of pages4
JournalUnknown Journal
Volume37
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 1982
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Parasitology
  • Microbiology
  • Immunology
  • Infectious Diseases

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