The effect of azidothymidine on germ tube formation in Candida albicans.
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.
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Dipartimento di Medicina Interna e Medicina Pubblica, Sezione di Igiene, Università degli Studi di Bari, Policlinico, Italy.
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Coscia
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MF
Marcuccio
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D000963:Antimetabolites / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D012098:Reproduction; D015215:Zidovudine / Q000494:pharmacology*
D000963:Antimetabolites; D015215:Zidovudine