Experimental In Vivo Models of Candidiasis

Abstract

Candidiasis is a multifaceted fungal disease including mucosal-cutaneous, visceral, and disseminated infections caused by yeast species of the genus Candida. Candida infections are among the most common human mycoses. Candida species are the third to fourth most common isolates from bloodstream infections in neutropenic or immunocompromised hospitalized patients. The mucosal-cutaneous forms-particularly vaginal infections-have a high prevalence. Vaginitis caused by Candida species is the second most common vaginal infection. Hence, candidiasis is a major subject for research, including experimental in vivo models to study pathogenesis, prevention, or therapy of the disease. The following review article will focus on various experimental in vivo models in different laboratory animals, such as mammals (mice, rats, rabbits), the fruit fly-Drosophila melanogaster, the larvae of the moth Galleria mellonella, or the free-living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. The review will describe the induction of the different clinical forms of candidiasis in the various models and the validity of such models in mimicking the human clinical situations. The use of such models for the assessment of antifungal drugs, evaluation of potential vaccines to protect before candidiasis, exploration of Candida virulence factors, and comparison of pathogenicity of different Candida species will be included in the review. All of the above will be reported as based on published studies of numerous investigators as well as on the research of the author and his group.

Oral Candidiasis: A Disease of Opportunity

“…The demonstrated similarity to human disease processes and host immune responses made the rodent model the premier model to study Candida pathogenesis. In fact, a large gamut of clinically relevant animal models are available to study the various systemic or mucosal diseases caused by Candida [23,51,[220][221][222][223].…”

The planarian Schmidtea mediterranea is a new model to study host-pathogen interactions during fungal infections

“…The study of vertebrate and invertebrate in vivo models of candidiasis to date has provided important insights into the pathogenesis of fungal infections (Bergeron et al, 2017;Chamilos et al, 2007;Fuchs et al, 2010;Glittenberg et al, 2011;Gratacap et al, 2017;Mallick et al, 2016;Mylonakis, 2008;Mylonakis et al, 2007;Peterson and Pukkila-Worley, 2018;Pukkila-Worley et al, 2009a;Segal and Frenkel, 2018). However, there are still existing limitations in analyzing hostpathogen interactions in the context of the adult body and the stem cell response.…”

Attack, Defend and Persist: How the Fungal Pathogen Candida auris was Able to Emerge Globally in Healthcare Environments

“…Various experimental in vivo models have been developed to test virulence exhibited by Candida species [85]. The mouse model is widely used as a representative of the mammalian model.…”