Effect of cutaneous and digestive colonization in the induction of anti-Candida albicans antibodies: experimental study.

Candida albicans colonization induces antibodies, which must be taken into account in the serological diagnosis of candidiasis. In order to determine the degree of this effect, an experimental study in rabbits free of specific anti-Candida antibodies by cutaneous and digestive inoculation has been carried out. The evolution of humoral response was studied over 8 weeks by indirect immunofluorescence (IIF), direct agglutination (DA), counterimmunoelectrophoresis (CIE) and double diffusion (DD). The cutaneous colonization detectable by culture was maintained until the second week in 70% of the animals and the presence of antibodies detectable by IIF and DA was observed after the 2nd week. The highest antibody titre by IFF and DA was 1/64, and was reached in the 5th week, with a tendency to drop in the following weeks. Precipitins were only detected by CIE in 15% of the animals in the 7th week. Elimination of yeast in stools continued only in 20% of the animals in the 2nd week of the experiment. Antibodies were detected by IIF and DA after the 2nd week, with the highest titres detectable by IFF in the 5th week. Precipitant antibodies detectable by CIE appeared in 15% of the animals in the 8th week.