Resistance of Candida glabrata to drugs and the host immune system

Abstract

Background: Candida glabrata is a ubiquitous organism and this species is one of the normal floras that commonly found in oral cavity, gastrointestinal and vaginal tract. However, they can be pathogenic and caused serious infection that more likely to occur in immunocompromised patients. Widespread and increased usage of immunosuppressive therapies with the additional of broad-spectrum antibiotic treatment can also lead to the significant increment of Candida infections. Candida species can cause nosocomial infection that associated with alarming high mortality rate worldwide. C. glabrata is one of the Candida species that raise an attention of a researcher due to their high resistance to certain drugs and antifungal as well as host immune system.Objective: To investigate certain aspects of the C. glabrata that contributes to their resistance to drugs and as host in immune system.Results: Microorganisms including Candida have an ability to evolve in order to sustain their survival and it is creating a new microbial community that are more resistant. C. glabrata possessed several strategies for their resistance including production of biofilm, genomic plasticity as well as chromatin alteration. On the other hand, their resistance may cause by the mutation in certain gene. Besides, they also use a variety of mechanisms that enable their adaptation works successfully and their survival as host in immune system. Conclusion:A significant number of researches have been conducted to elucidate resistant mechanism of C. glabrata thus, much information has been gained on how their resistant mechanism works and has enhanced our knowledge on the virulence and resistance mechanisms associated with Candida species especially C. glabrata. Further studies and investigation in this area are crucial particularly on the identification and development of new targets for novel therapeutics against these recently emerged pathogens.

Virulence Attributes of Clinical Candida glabrata (Sensu Stricto) Isolates in the West Region of Cameroon

“…The variation or concordance of phospholipase, protease and esterase activities between isolates in our study and those of other studies, confirms that the virulence attributes of C. glabrata sensu stricto strains are highly heterogeneous depending on the source of the clinical material or the geographic region from which the strains were isolated. Biofilm formation is also one of the most important virulence factors that contribute to the pathogenicity of C. glabrata sensu stricto [8]. Given that C. albicans is the species that is most frequently associated with biofilm formation, and that most of our knowledge on biofilm formation in Candida species results from the study of C. albicans as a model [17], we used the reference strain; Candida albicans ATCC 9022 (100% biofilm formation activity) in our study to interpret biofilm results.…”

“…The presence Of C. glabrata isolates during an infection (especially bloodstream infections) has been associated with higher morbidity and mortality rates compared to isolates that are unable to form biofilm. C. glabrata sensu stricto displays the highest number of biofilm cultivable cells and its strains show similar biofilm forming ability [8]. Previous studies show that biofilm formation in C. glabrata sensu stricto contributes significantly to the colonization of tissues and indwelling medical devices [6,7].…”

“…Previous studies show that biofilm formation in C. glabrata sensu stricto contributes significantly to the colonization of tissues and indwelling medical devices [6,7]. Thus, the ability of our C. glabrata sensu stricto isolates to form biofilms has important clinical repercussions, as this is associated to their increased resistance to antifungal therapy, as well as the increased ability of the yeast cells within the biofilms to withstand host immune defences [6,8]. Their ability to form drug-resistant biofilms is an important factor in their contribution to human disease [7].…”

“…Nowadays, this concept has been modified and it is known that these organisms dynamically participate in the pathophysiology of the disease process using mechanisms of aggression called virulence factors. These principally include; biofilm formation capacity (on host tissues and on medical devices), and the production of tissue damaging hydrolytic enzymes such as phospholipases, proteases, lipases, and hemolysins [6,7,8].…”

A New Variant of Mutational and Polymorphic Signatures in the ERG11 Gene of Fluconazole-Resistant Candida albicans

“… 5 More than 17 different Candida species are known to be etiological agents of human fungal infection, and about 90% of invasive Candida infections are caused by C. albicans, C. glabrata, C. Parapsilosis, C. tropicalis , and C. krusei . 4 , 9 , 10 The predominant cause of invasive fungal infection is C. albicans , of which the clinical indicators vary from superficial mucosal infection to deep invasive organ or systemic infection. 11…”