Candida albicans facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Candida albicans |
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| Candida albicans visualized using scanning electron microscopy. Note the abundant hyphal mass. | |
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Candida
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albicans
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Candida albicans is a pathogenic yeast that is a common member of the human gut flora. It can also survive outside the human body. It is detected in the gastrointestinal tract and mouth in 40–60% of healthy adults. It is usually a commensal organism, but it can become pathogenic in immunocompromised individuals under a variety of conditions. It is one of the few species of the genus Candida that cause the human infection candidiasis, which results from an overgrowth of the fungus. Candidiasis is, for example, often observed in HIV-infected patients. C. albicans, C. tropicalis, C. parapsilosis, and C. glabrata are together responsible for 50–90% of all cases of candidiasis in humans. A mortality rate of 40% has been reported for patients with systemic candidiasis due to C. albicans.
Role in disease
Candida is found worldwide but most commonly compromises immunocompromised individuals diagnosed with serious diseases such as HIV and cancer. Candida are ranked as one of the most common groups of organisms that cause hospital-acquired infections. Especially high-risk individuals are patients that have recently undergone surgery, a transplant or are in the Intensive Care Units (ICU), C. albicans infections is the top source of fungal infections in critically ill or otherwise immunocompromised patients. Methods of transmission include mother to infant through childbirth, people-to-people acquired infections that most commonly occur in hospital settings where immunocompromised patients acquire the yeast from healthcare workers and has a 40% incident rate. Parts of the body that are commonly infected include the skin, genitals, throat, mouth, and blood.
Systemic fungal infections (fungemias) including those by C. albicans have emerged as important causes of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients (e.g., AIDS, cancer chemotherapy, organ or bone marrow transplantation). C. albicans often forms biofilms inside the body.
Notable C. albicans researchers
- Neil A. R. Gow
- Alexander D. Johnson
- Frank C. Odds
- Charles Philippe Robin
- Fred Sherman
- David R. Soll
Images for kids
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Candida albicans visualized by Gram stain and microscopy. Note the hyphae and chlamydospores, which are 2–4 µm in diameter.
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Candida albicans growing on Sabouraud agar
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An opaque colony of C. albicans growing as yeast-like cells with filamentous C. albicans cells on top
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Round, white-phase and elongated, opaque-phase Candida albicans cells: the scale bar is 5 µm
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In this model of the genetic network regulating the white-opaque switch, the white and gold boxes represent genes enriched in the white and opaque states, respectively. The blue lines represent relationships based on genetic epistasis. Red lines represent Wor1 control of each gene, based on Wor1 enrichment in chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments. Activation (arrowhead) and repression (bar) are inferred based on white- and opaque-state expression of each gene.
See also
In Spanish: Candida albicans para niños
