Departamento de Microbiología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Av. Francisco I Madero and Dr. Aguirre-Pequeño, 64460, Monterrey, Mexico.
Departamento de Inmunología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, ENCB-IPN, Mexico City, Mexico.
Mycopathologia. 2019 Dec;184(6):747-757. doi: 10.1007/s11046-019-00398-9. Epub 2019 Oct 21.
Candida albicans is a commensal fungus of the skin and mucous membranes in humans, but it is also responsible for mucocutaneous and systemic infections in immunocompromised patients like low birth weight neonates and premature newborns. The epicutaneous application of C. albicans is widely used to study the immune response against this pathogen in adult mice models. However, the immune response of newborns against infections caused by the genus Candida is poorly understood. In order to mimic premature human infection, we developed a model of C. albicans epicutaneous infection in newborn mice. We found that yeasts were able to colonize while the pseudohyphae invaded the epidermis. Recruitment of polymorphonuclear and mononuclear cells at the infection zone was observed. Fungal invasion, fungal burden and cellular infiltration displayed a time- and dose-dependent response. Interestingly, newborn mice were able to control C. albicans primary infection. Finally, we showed that the epicutaneous infection of C. albicans in newborn mice at birth results in the induction of cell-mediated immunity as evinced by delayed-type hypersensitivity assays.
白色念珠菌是人类皮肤和黏膜的共生真菌，但它也可导致免疫功能低下患者（如低出生体重儿和早产儿）发生黏膜皮肤和全身性感染。白色念珠菌的经皮应用被广泛用于研究成年小鼠模型中针对这种病原体的免疫反应。然而，对于新生儿针对假丝酵母菌属感染的免疫反应，我们还知之甚少。为了模拟早产儿的人类感染，我们建立了一种新生小鼠白色念珠菌经皮感染模型。我们发现，酵母能够定植，而假菌丝则入侵表皮。在感染部位观察到多形核和单核细胞的募集。真菌入侵、真菌负荷和细胞浸润呈时间和剂量依赖性反应。有趣的是，新生小鼠能够控制白色念珠菌的初次感染。最后，我们表明，在出生时对新生小鼠进行白色念珠菌的经皮感染会导致细胞介导免疫的诱导，这可通过迟发型超敏反应试验证明。
