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Vulvovaginal Candida infection: current perspectives
Author(s) -
Odds F.C.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
journal of the european academy of dermatology and venereology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.655
H-Index - 107
eISSN - 1468-3083
pISSN - 0926-9959
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-3083.1993.tb00032.x
Subject(s) - candida albicans , virulence , vaginitis , microbiology and biotechnology , proteolytic enzymes , secretion , medicine , colonization , corpus albicans , phenotype , enzyme , biology , gene , genetics , biochemistry , gynecology
Candida Vulvovaginitis remains the subject of considerable research attention. Yeast species other than Candida albicans are being incriminated with increasing frequency as causes of vaginitis in some recent publications, while analysis of C. albicans strain types by DNA fingerprinting has provided preliminary evidence that the fungus may be able to make minor adaptations of its genotype that facilitate vaginal colonization. The current perception of C. albicans as a potentially virulent microbe relates several molecular factors to invasive processes. These include secretion of hydrolytic enzymes, in particular a proteolytic enzyme, and an inherent tendency to rapid phenotypic switching. Molecular biological experimentation with the genes determining secretion of enzymes should be able to demonstrate definitively the role played by such proteins in the pathogenetic process.