Iranian Biomedical Journal

en In vivo and in vitro Pathogenesis and Virulence Factors of Candida albicans Strains Isolated from Cutaneous Candidiasis Molecular Microbiology Molecular Microbiology مقاله کامل Full Length/Original Article 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. Candida albicans, Experimental candidiasis, in vivo pathogenicity, Virulence factors 324 332 http://ibj.pasteur.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1-818&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Golnar Sadeghi 0000-0001-5748-848X No Department of Medical Mycology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran 1316943551, Iran. Seyed Fazllolah Mousavi 0000-0003-3671-9378 No Department of Microbiology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran 1316943551, Iran. Mina Ebrahimi-Rad 0000-0002-4208-2206 No Department of Biochemistry, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran 1316943551, Iran. Esmat Mirabzadeh-Ardekani 0000-0003-3636-0780 No Department of Medical Biotechnology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran 13164, Iran. Ali Eslamifar 0000-0002-8786-1676 No Department of Clinical Research, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran 13164, Iran. Masoomeh Shams-Ghahfarokhi 0000-0003-2562-965X No Department of Medical Mycology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran 14115-331, Iran Zahra Jahanshiri 0000-0001-9431-9335 No Department of Medical Mycology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran 1316943551, Iran. Mehdi Razzaghi-Abyaneh 0000-0001-8217-399X Yes Department of Medical Mycology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran 1316943551, Iran.