Chemical and physiological effects of Candida albicans toxin on tissues.

The prevalence of immunologically suppressed patients, including those infected with the AIDS virus, with cancer, and those having had transplant surgery to name a few, has provided an avenue for the rapid proliferation among these patients of the virulent yeast Candida albicans. Previous studies have determined that a potent toxin is produced by C. albicans which may cause extensive tissue damage. The extent of the tissue damage has never been determined, neither has the mechanism been explained. The present work shows that intraperitoneal inoculation of C. albicans produces numerous tumour-like lesions and abscesses on the major organs of experimental laboratory rats. The results demonstrate that damage is caused by the initial release of lysosomal enzymes by the affected tissues.