Adhesion and colonisation of Candida krusei on host surfaces

Abstract

Summary.Candida krusei is an emerging pathogen, especially in immunocompromised hosts. As the adherence of this organism both to host epithelial surfaces and to catheter and prosthetic surfaces appears to be important in the pathogenesis of superficial as well as systemic candidoses, the adhesion of 20 oral isolates of C. krusei and five oral isolates of C. albicans was compared with the following substrates : cultured (HeLa) epithelial cells, buccal epithelial cells (BEC) from healthy adults and bone marrow transplant patients, and acrylic (polymethylmethacrylate) surfaces. Animal experiments in Sprague Dawley rats were also conducted to evaluate the relative oral carriage rate of the two Candida spp. C. krusei isolates adhered in far greater numbers to acrylic surfaces than to either of the cell surfaces. Significant intra-species differences in C. krusei adhesion for acrylic surfaces were noted between 74 (39 %) of 190 pair comparisons in contrast to 18 (9.5 %) of 190 with HeLa surfaces (p < 0.05). A positive correlation was also observed between the adhesion of C. krusei isolates to HeLa cells and acrylic surfaces. Five isolates of C. albicans showed very low adherence to HeLa surfaces when compared with BEC obtained from either healthy individuals or bone marrow transplant patients. The adherence of C. albicans to BEC from the healthy individuals was c. 12-fold greater than that of C. krusei, a figure similar to the relative murine oral carriage rate of the two Candida spp. However, the adhesion of C. albicans to BEC from bone marrow transplant patients was three-fold less than to BEC of healthy individuals whilst C. krusei adhesion remained the same, reflecting a possible selective colonisation process which may operate in these patient groups, possibly as a result of drug therapy. The current data, while confirming the inter-and intra-species differences in adherence of Candida spp. to host surfaces, illustrate that adherence-related factors may operate during colonisation of C. krusei on mucosal, catheter and prosthetic surfaces, in vivo in both health and disease.

The Relative Pathogenicity of Candida Krusei and C. Albicans in the Rat Oral Mucosa

“…In one study, an 11-fold increase in adherence of C. albicans to buccal epithelial cells compared with C. krusei was observed [41]. These observations broadly concur with our previous studies in which adhesion of C. krusei to buccal epithelial cells from healthy individuals was 10 times less than that of C. albicans [16].…”

“…Two different isolates of C. krusei (CK9 and CK13) were tested; both were isolated from oral lesions of denture stomatitis patients attending the Oral Medicine Clinic of the Glasgow Dental Hospital and School, Glasgow. These two isolates were specifically selected from a battery of 20 C. krusei isolates because of their greater virulence attributes of adherence and hydrophobicity as described in previous studies [16,171. All three isolates were speciated by the germ-tube test and API20C identification test kits (API Laboratory Products, Basingstoke, Hants).…”

In vitro inhibitory effect of Streblus asper leaf-extract on adhesion of Candida albicans to human buccal epithelial cells

“…The relationship between Candida adherence to host epithelia and prosthetic denture acrylic surfaces and their ability to colonize and cause disease has been investigated (Samaranayake andMacFarlane, 1980, 1981a,b;McCourtie and Douglas, 1984;McCourtie et al, 1985;Kennedy, 1988;Samaranayake et al, 1994). Samaranayake (1990) paid particular attention to candidal adhesion to the oral mucosa, as the latter is intimately associated with all common forms of oral candidosis.…”

The Interaction between Candida krusei and Murine Macrophages Results in Multiple Outcomes, Including Intracellular Survival and Escape from Killing

“…It is already known that C. krusei is less invasive than C. albicans, although it shows a heavy growth on the superficial epithelium (27). Besides this, C. krusei has been demonstrated to be more hydrophobic than other species of Candida, and this could play a critical role in the colonization of medical devices such as implants and catheters to which C. krusei has been shown to be more adherent (27). The ability to produce hydrolytic enzymes is considered a putative virulence factor of Candida spp.…”