title: Pathogenicity of Candida viswanathii for normal and cortisone-treated mice.
abstract: The pathogenicity of Candida viswanathii, PCI 501/1 (CBS 4024), originally isolated from CSF of a fatal case of meningitis in India, is reported. Also, included is a global overview of the occurrence of C. viswanathii in clinical and environmental sources. The investigation was done in normal and cortisone-treated albino mice challenged intravenously with variable doses of 1×10(6), 4×10(6) and 16×10(6) actively growing yeast cells of the fungus. The animals were kept under observation up to 3 weeks when they were sacrificed for a mycological and histopathologic study. As apparent from the data on morbidity and mortality, the species exhibited low virulence for normal mice, whereas it caused significantly higher mortality (P<0.0008) and morbidity (macroscopic lesions) (P<0.0004) in cortisone group. Likewise, there was overall higher recovery of C. viswanathii in culture from the cortisone-treated than in the normal group of mice. These observations are indicative of C. viswanathii being an opportunistic pathogen. It is recognized that a definitive identification of C. viswanathii requires mycological expertise for comprehensive phenotypic characterization or the application of expensive techniques such as Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and molecular techniques, facilities for which are generally lacking in a vast majority of laboratory diagnostic centers especially in developing countries. Consequently, the prevalence of C. viswanathii in clinical and environmental samples is currently likely to be underestimated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Mycology, Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute, University of Delhi, 110007 Delhi, India. Electronic address: h.rand@yahoo.co.in.
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Randhawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Mycology, Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute, University of Delhi, 110007 Delhi, India.
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Mishra
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute, University of Delhi, 110007 Delhi, India.
authors.forename: V N
authors.initials: VN
authors.lastname: Damodaran
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Mycology, Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute, University of Delhi, 110007 Delhi, India.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Prakash
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Mycology, Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute, University of Delhi, 110007 Delhi, India.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chowdhary
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University, Safat, Kuwait.
authors.forename: Z U
authors.initials: ZU
authors.lastname: Khan
mesh_terms: D000825:Animal Structures / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D000818:Animals; D002175:Candida / Q000145:classification / Q000276:immunology / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D002177:Candidiasis / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D003348:Cortisone / Q000008:administration & dosage; D016867:Immunocompromised Host / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D016533:Mycological Typing Techniques / Q000379:methods; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization; D014774:Virulence / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D003348:Cortisone
keywords: Candida viswanathii; Global distribution; Pathogenicity for albino mice; Pathogénicité pour la souris blanche; Répartition mondiale