Panuveitis
Gwyn Samuel Williams, Mark Westcott, Carlos Pavesio, Bushra Thajudeen in Practical Uveitis, 2017
Though highly immunosuppressed patients such as those suffering from acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) can develop a smorgasbord of weird and wonderful infections in the eye, the only two to truly know about in real life are Candida and Aspergillus. The presence of fungal endophthalmitis should therefore prompt an HIV test should another obvious cause of immunosuppression be lacking. Candida is a yeast and is ubiquitous among humanity with the great majority of us carrying it around as a commensal. As it reaches the eye through haematogenous spread the first appearance may be as a deep choroidal or subretinal mass. The organism is not aggressive and progress takes weeks rather than days and should treatment not be undertaken it will break through the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) to form the typical white fluffy retinal lesions (Figure 6.1) that this condition is known for. If still left untreated the inward growth of Candida continues and the vitreous is entered, where it forms a ‘string of pearls’ that sits proud of the retina and seems to be joined together by a thin strand of fungal debris (Figure 6.2). Further progression causes the vitreous to fill with colonies and gliotic reaction to the presence of the invader can result in a tractional retinal detachment which can be impossible to repair. For this reason intensive care physicians will call ophthalmologists to examine all of their patients with positive Candida blood cultures. The key lies in capturing the infection early.
Candida Biofilms
Chaminda Jayampath Seneviratne in Microbial Biofilms, 2017
Candida is a group of commensal fungi that inhabit various niches of the human body, including the oral cavity, gastrointestinal tract, vagina, and skin of healthy individuals [1,2]. Candida is a eukaryotic organism which has been included in the kingdom Fungi. Candida is classified in the order Saccharromycetaeceae and the class Hemiascomycetes. Although more than 200 Candida spp. have been identified, only a few of them are associated with human or animal infections [3,4]. These include C. albicans, C. glabrata, C. tropicalis, C. krusei, C. parapsilosis, among others. Under certain circumstances, transition of innocuous commensal Candidato the disease-causing ‘parasitic’ form causes infection, or candidiasis, which can range from superficial mucous membrane infection to life-threatening systemic disease [1].
Candida and parasitic infection: Helminths, trichomoniasis, lice, scabies, and malaria
Hung N. Winn, Frank A. Chervenak, Roberto Romero in Clinical Maternal-Fetal Medicine Online, 2021
Although the diagnosis of Candida infection is generally suspected on the basis of physical findings, confirmation should be obtained. The use of saline or potassium hydroxide (KOH) wet mounts of the vaginal secretions is the most rapid and least expensive confirmatory test. If a saline preparation is used, dark-field or phase-contrast microscopy may aid in visualization of the fungal elements. Potassium hydroxide (10–20% solution) lyses the epithelial cells, allowing the Candida to be seen more easily. Wet-mount analysis is highly specific, but sensitivity is poor (as low as 20%) (11). Other microscopic methods of Candida detection include Gram stain of smears or touch preps and Papanicolaou smears. If microscopic analysis is negative despite persistent symptoms following therapy, culture should be performed prior to further treatment. Infected secretions are inoculated into tubes of candida culture media [Sabouraud’s dextrose slants or Nickerson’s medium have the highest sensitivity (90%) and specificity (70%) for Candida strains] (12) and incubated at 25°C to 37°C (3). Candida grows quickly, often within 24 hours. Isolates from sterile sources should be subcultured and identified to the species level, but vaginal specimens need only categorization to either albicans or non-albicans. Species differentiation is based on subculture characteristics. C. albicans exhibits both germ tube and chlamydospore growth (3). C. parapsilosis, tropicalis, and glabrata produce neither.
Novel 2-indolinones containing a sulfonamide moiety as selective inhibitors of candida β-carbonic anhydrase enzyme
Published in Journal of Enzyme Inhibition and Medicinal Chemistry, 2019
Atilla Akdemir, Andrea Angeli, Füsun Göktaş, Pınar Eraslan Elma, Nilgün Karalı, Claudiu T. Supuran
Candida species are yeasts that normally live on human skin, mucous membranes, and the gastrointestinal tract without causing infections. However, in immunocompromised patients these microorganisms can cause fungal infections of the mouth or throat, mucous membranes or vagina (candidiadis) or it may enter the blood stream to cause more serious candidemia1,2. While many Candida species such as are responsible for these infections, Candida glabrata infections are becoming more frequent3. The development of drug resistance against the clinically used antifungals is a very important medical problem. Compared to other Candida strains, C. glabrata infections are more difficult to treat because of the rapid development of drug resistance against many classical antifungal agents4,5. The C. glabrata Carbonic Anhydrase CgNce103 enzyme may constitute a novel target for new classes of antifungals.
Treatment of Candida sternal infection following cardiac surgery – a review of literature
Published in Infectious Diseases, 2019
Ali Ahmet Arıkan, Oğuz Omay, Muhip Kanko, Emre Horuz, Gökhan Yağlı, Emrah Yaşar Kağan, Hakan Ağır
The signs of Candida and bacterial infections are similar. Candida is an unexpected agent for SWI after cardiac surgery with median sternotomy. Candida is usually identified after a failed course of antibacterial therapy [16]; although this delays appropriate treatment, empiric antifungal agents are considered only in severely ill cardiac surgery patients [2,4,25]. The present review found that candidemia was reported in 4% (n = 3) of patients [1,11,18]. In the cases we reviewed, swab cultures or deep tissue specimens were used for diagnosis, and Candida albicans was the dominant pathogen. It has been well-established that for definitive diagnosis, deep tissue specimens are essential. A shift toward non-albicans infections has been reported in cases of Candida osteomyelitis [26]. In our review, 50% of the reported sternal SWIs in patients infected with non-albicans species following cardiac surgery died. Survival of patients having sternal infections due to the Candida species famata, tropicalis, and lusitaniae after cardiac surgery has not been reported. Only one of the three paediatric cases survived. The mortality rate was 16% for albicans species.
Development of a bioadhesive nanoformulation with Glycyrrhiza glabra L. extract against Candida albicans
Published in Biofouling, 2018
Luís Roque, Noélia Duarte, Maria Rosário Bronze, Catarina Garcia, Julia Alopaeus, Jesus Molpeceres, Ellen Hagesaether, Ingunn Tho, Patrícia Rijo, Catarina Reis
In parallel with the advances achieved with natural compounds, the microbiological field is facing several significant challenges. One of the most relevant is the development of resistance by some pathogenic microorganisms to well-known chemical drugs used in therapy, in order to survive in a hostile environment (Davies & Davies 2010; Dias et al. 2012; Xia et al. 2017). One of the most common opportunistic fungal infections is candidiasis. It is caused by Candida spp., mainly affecting immuno-compromised patients, and, more rarely, healthy populations. C. albicans is considered the most relevant species in oral candidiasis, although other Candida species have been pointed out, such as C. tropicalis, C. glabrata, C. dubliniensis, C. parapsilosis, C. orthopsilosis, C. metapsilosis, C. krusei, C. famata, C. guilliermondii and C. lusitaniae (El-kamali 2009; Martins et al. 2015).
Related Knowledge Centers
- Candida Albicans
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