Effect of exogenous administration of Candida albicans autoregulatory alcohols in a murine model of hematogenously disseminated candidiasis

Abstract

Candida albicans supernatants contain a mixture of autoregulatory alcohols. In vitro, when added individually or in combination, these alcohols inhibit the yeast to filamentous form conversion. Here we evaluate the in vivo effect of the exogenous administration of a Cocktail solution simulating the composition of alcohols present in a C. albicans culture supernatant(1 ml; 94 μmol l–1 isoamyl alcohol, 70 μmol l–1 2-phenylethanol, 3.2 n mol l–1 E-nerolidol, and 18 n mol l–1 E,E-farnesol) using the well established murine model of hematogenously disseminated candidiasis. Mice injected intraperitoneally with the Cocktail solution demonstrated increased survival and decreased organ fungal burden compared to control mice. Histological observations suggest that the Cocktail, to some extent, has an inhibitory effect on cell filamentation within the kidney. These findings suggest that the exogenous administration of C. albicans autoregulatory alcohols displays a protective effect during disseminated candidiasis.