Candida sp. Infections in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

Candidiasis has increased substantially worldwide over recent decades and is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality, especially among critically ill patients. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disorder that predisposes individuals to fungal infections, including those related to Candida sp., due to a immunosuppressive effect on the patient. This review aims to discuss the latest studies regarding the occurrence of candidiasis on DM patients and the pathophysiology and etiology associated with these co-morbidities. A comprehensive review of the literature was undertaken. PubMed, Scopus, Elsevier’s ScienceDirect, and Springer’s SpringerLink databases were searched using well-defined search terms. Predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to classify relevant manuscripts. Results of the review show that DM patients have an increased susceptibility to Candida sp. infections which aggravates in the cases of uncontrolled hyperglycemia. The conclusion is that, for these patients, the hospitalization periods have increased and are commonly associated with the prolonged use of indwelling medical devices, which also increase the costs associated with disease management.

Opportunistic invasive fungal disease in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus from Southern China: Clinical features and associated factors

“…It was found that the gut colony forming units of C. albicans in patients with type 1 diabetes is 2.7‐fold higher than their healthy counterparts. Although frequently diagnosed, candidiasis was not the first ranking in the present study, which contradicts with previous report. One of the explanations could be the exclusion of oral candidiasis, which is the most common, vulvovaginal candidiasis and cutaneous candidiasis.…”

<p>Emerging Invasive Fungal Infections: Clinical Features and Controversies in Diagnosis and Treatment Processes</p>

“…more susceptible to infection, especially fungal infection, as a result of neutrophil dysfunction and impaired humoral immunity. 18,19 The clinical manifestations of the patients were atypical. Fever, which is a common infection symptom, presented in only 37.9% of the patients.…”

Recurrent Vulvovaginal Candidiasis: An Immunological Perspective

“…In addition to genetic variations, a compromised antifungal host defense, such as that found in diabetes mellitus, is thought to increase the risk of vaginal fungal infections [66]. Indeed, cross-sectional studies in Brazil confirmed that Candida colonization rates are higher in diabetic women (18.8%) than in non-diabetic patients (11.8%), with the diabetic group showing more symptomatic (VVC + RVVC = 66.6%) than colonized (33.3%) patients [67].…”