title: Human pathogenic viruses are retained in and released by Candida albicans biofilm in vitro.
abstract: Candida albicans is the most prevalent human fungal pathogen associated with biofilm formation on indwelling medical devices. Under this form, Candida represents an infectious reservoir difficult to eradicate and possibly responsible for systemic, often lethal infections. Currently, no information is available on the occurrence and persistence of pathogenic viruses within C. albicans biofilm. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate whether Herpes Simplex Virus type 1 (HSV-1) and Coxsackievirus type B5 (CVB5) can be encompassed in Candida biofilm, retain their infectivity and then be released. Thus, cell-free virus inocula or HSV-1-infected cells were added to 24h-old fungal biofilm in tissue culture plates; 48 h later, the biofilm was detached by washing and energetic scratching and the presence of virus in the rescued material was end-point titrated on VERO cells. Planktonic Candida cultures and samples containing only medium were run in parallel as controls. We found that both HSV-1 and CVB5 free virus particles, as well as HSV-1 infected cells remain embedded in the biofilm retaining their infectivity. As a second step, the influence of biofilm on virus sensitivity to sodium hypochlorite and to specific neutralizing antibodies was investigated. The results showed that virus encompassment in fungal biofilm reduces virus sensitivity to chemical inactivation but does not affect antibody neutralization. Overall, these data provide the first in vitro evidence that viruses can be encompassed within Candida biofilm and then be released. Thus, it may be speculated that Candida biofilm can be a reservoir of viruses too, posing a further health risk.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina Diagnostica, Clinica e di Sanità Pubblica, Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 287, 41125 Modena, Italy. Electronic address: 90670@studenti.unimore.it.
authors.forename: Elham
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mazaheritehrani
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina Diagnostica, Clinica e di Sanità Pubblica, Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 287, 41125 Modena, Italy. Electronic address: arianna.sala42@alice.it.
authors.forename: Arianna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sala
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina Diagnostica, Clinica e di Sanità Pubblica, Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 287, 41125 Modena, Italy; Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Microbiologia e Virologia, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via C. Pascal 36, 20133 Milan, Italy. Electronic address: carlottafrancesca.orsi@unimore.it.
authors.forename: Carlotta Francesca
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Orsi
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina Diagnostica, Clinica e di Sanità Pubblica, Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 287, 41125 Modena, Italy. Electronic address: rachelegiovanna.neglia@unimore.it.
authors.forename: Rachele Giovanna
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Neglia
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Microbiologia e Virologia, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via C. Pascal 36, 20133 Milan, Italy. Electronic address: giulia.morace@unimi.it.
authors.forename: Giulia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Morace
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina Diagnostica, Clinica e di Sanità Pubblica, Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 287, 41125 Modena, Italy. Electronic address: elisabetta.blasi@unimore.it.
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Blasi
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina Diagnostica, Clinica e di Sanità Pubblica, Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 287, 41125 Modena, Italy. Electronic address: claudio.cermelli@unimore.it.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cermelli
mesh_terms: D018441:Biofilms; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000502:physiology / Q000821:virology*; D002460:Cell Line; D029822:Enterovirus B, Human / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology*; D018259:Herpesvirus 1, Human / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D014774:Virulence; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000821:virology; D057074:Virus Release
keywords: Biofilm; Candida albicans; Coxsackievirus B5 (CVB5); Human Herpesvirus type-1 (HSV-1)