Department of Pediatrics, Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02905, USA.
Pediatr Res. 2011 Mar;69(3):189-93. doi: 10.1203/PDR.0b013e318206fd3e.
Candida albicans is the leading fungal pathogen causing invasive disease in immunocompromised patients including the neonate. A reliable animal model for disseminated candidiasis in the neonate is needed to study the unique aspects of this host-pathogen interaction. To establish such a model, 2-d-old BALB/c mouse pups were given i.p. injections with varied inocula of C. albicans or saline control. Pups were examined every 3-8 h for death. Surviving pups were killed at 72 h. Kidney, lung, spleen, liver, and brain were homogenized and plated for colony counts and/or fixed for histological staining. The i.p. injection of C. albicans led to mortality in a dose-dependent fashion. Disseminated infection was confirmed by colony counts of homogenized kidney, lung, and brain, as well as by histological examination. Infection with a C. albicans mutant lacking the cell surface adhesin, Als3p, led to significant reduction in mortality relative to WT (p = 0.03). This model will be useful to study the unique aspects of antifungal defense in a neonatal host and will provide a means to test novel therapeutic strategies.
白色念珠菌是导致免疫功能低下患者（包括新生儿）侵袭性疾病的主要真菌病原体。需要建立一种可靠的新生儿播散性念珠菌病动物模型，以研究这种宿主-病原体相互作用的独特方面。为了建立这样的模型，将 2 日龄 BALB/c 幼鼠给予腹腔注射不同剂量的白色念珠菌或生理盐水对照。每 3-8 小时检查一次幼鼠是否死亡。幸存的幼鼠在 72 小时时处死。将肾脏、肺脏、脾脏、肝脏和大脑匀浆并进行平板计数和/或固定进行组织学染色。腹腔注射白色念珠菌导致幼鼠死亡率呈剂量依赖性。通过对肾脏、肺脏和大脑匀浆的菌落计数以及组织学检查，证实了播散性感染。与野生型（WT）相比，缺乏细胞表面黏附素 Als3p 的白色念珠菌突变体感染导致死亡率显著降低（p = 0.03）。该模型将有助于研究新生儿宿主中抗真菌防御的独特方面，并为测试新的治疗策略提供手段。
