title: The effect of azidothymidine on germ tube formation in Candida albicans.
abstract: Candida albicans have a marked propensity to cause infections in AIDS patients. A virulent trait of C. albicans is the yeast-hypha transition (Y-->H) which is influenced, in vitro and in vivo, by several factors. Since azidothymidine (AZT) is used in HIV-positive patients, the effect, in vitro, of different concentrations of AZT on C. albicans Y-->H transition was evaluated. C. albicans isolated from HIV-negative and HIV-positive patients were used and strains of C. tropicalis isolated from HIV-positive patients were also tested. AZT concentrations from 0.01 microg/ml to 10 microg/ml did not have any influence on the Y-->H transition, whereas 100 microg/ml AZT significantly inhibited the germ tube formation. AZT did not influence the formation of pseudohyphae in C. tropicalis. It is suggested that C. albicans infection observed in HIV-positive patients was not influenced by AZT therapy, because at currently used dosages, the Y-->H transition was not expected to increase.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina Interna e Medicina Pubblica, Sezione di Igiene, Università degli Studi di Bari, Policlinico, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Monno
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Caggiano
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Coscia
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Marcuccio
mesh_terms: D000963:Antimetabolites / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D012098:Reproduction; D015215:Zidovudine / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000963:Antimetabolites; D015215:Zidovudine