title: Systemic candidiasis in an apparently immunocompetent dog.
abstract: Members of the family Candida spp. are ubiquitous dimorphic fungi that normally inhabit the alimentary, upper respiratory, and genital mucosae of mammals. Cell-mediated immunity appears to be an important limitation to the pathologic spread of these fungi. Prolonged immunosuppression, cytotoxic chemotherapy causing neutropenia, diabetes mellitus, long-term glucocorticoid therapy, and prolonged antimicrobial therapy have resulted in an increased incidence of both localized and disseminated candidiasis. This report describes a systemic Candida spp. infection in a dog with no obvious underlying deficiency in host resistance. Cytopathology, histopathology, transmission electron microscopy, and immunohistochemical staining were used to determine the etiology of the causative agent.
authors.affiliation: Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, College of Veterinary Medicine, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-4474, USA.
authors.forename: M Raquel
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Craig A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: Fawzi M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Mohamed
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002177:Candidiasis / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D004285:Dogs; D007121:Immunocompetence; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D008264:Macrophages / Q000382:microbiology; D008297:Male