Organ Localization in Mice Challenged with a Typical Candida albicans Strain and a Pseudohyphal Variant 1

Abstract

Summary

Localization of yeast-like and pseudohyphal cells of Candida albicans in various organs of AKR mice was examined following experimental fungemia. Relatively greater numbers of yeast-like than pseudohyphal organisms were cleared from the blood by the liver while more pseudohyphal than yeast-like cells localized in the lungs. Cells of both C. albicans forms disappeared more rapidly from the lungs than from the liver. Few cells of either form localized in the spleen or kidneys but the yeast cells found initially in the kidneys increased in numbers between 24 and 96 hr following injection. These data support the premise that disseminating systemic C. albicans infections are more likely to be initiated by the yeast-like form of the microorganism. The data also indicate that the lungs may play a vital role in innate host resistance against vascular dissemination of C. albicans.