Speaker
Description
Candida albicans is a pathobiont in warm-blooded animals that can cause various mucosal infections as well as life-threatening disseminated disease. Diagnosis of systemic candidiasis is challenging due to unspecific symptoms, low sensitivity of blood culture, and lack of standardized biomarkers differentiating colonization and infection. Delayed diagnosis and limited treatment options result in high mortality rates, which led to C. albicans being assigned to the Critical Priority Group of fungal pathogens by the WHO. Although case reports suggest that mucosal and systemic candidiasis occur in different animal species, resembling infections in humans, lack of awareness in veterinary medicine likely results in underdiagnosis.
Here, I will summarize the current knowledge on why and how C. albicans shifts from a commensal lifestyle to invasive growth, and highlight how tissue-specific difference shape host-pathogen interactions on different mucosal sites. By investigating different C. albicans strains, we found that strain heterogeneity impacts adaptation to and survival on different mucosal surfaces, with consequences for virulence but also immunological responses to colonization. The later in turn affects host immunity to systemic candidiasis caused by colonizing C. albicans strains. Furthermore, it can reduce susceptibility to bacterial infections, raising the question whether eradicating C. albicans colonization is a desirable goal.
| Registration ID | ECVM25-93 |
|---|---|
| Professional Status of the submitter, who is also the speaker | Professor |
Author
External references
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