Comparative abilities of Candida glabrata and Candida albicans to colonize and translocate from the intestinal tract of antibiotic-treated mice

Candida albicans is the primary cause of candidemia in hospitalized patients, and the intestinal tract is considered the source of most systemic infections. C. glabrata has emerged as the second or third most frequent cause of candidemia, but little is known about its epidemiology and pathogenesis. Our goal was to compare the intestinal colonization and extra-intestinal dissemination of C. glabrata and C. albicans (wild type and filamentation- defective mutant). Mice were pretreated with antibacterial agents to alter their resident microflora, and then orally inoculated with C. glabrata and/or C. albicans. Elimination of detectable cecal bacteria facilitated colonization with both Candida species. Selective elimination of aerobic/ facultative gram-negative bacilli did not noticeably affect Candida colonization, but Escherichia coli overgrowth inhibited colonization. In all situations, C. glabrata colonized the cecum equally well or better than C. albicans, and the ability of C. albicans to form filaments did not facilitate colonization. In vitro generation times had little relevance to the resulting cecal population levels of C. glabrata and C. albicans, and neither species readily disseminated to mesenteric lymph nodes. Thus, like C. albicans, the intestinal tract may be an epidemiological reservoir for C. glabrata and antibiotic-induced alterations in intestinal bacteria may facilitate colonization.