Factors affecting colonization and dissemination of Candida albicans from the gastrointestinal tract of mice.
O Ekenna and R J Sherertz
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Abstract
Male ICR Swiss mice (2 to 3 months old) were fed Candida albicans in their drinking water for 3 days, followed by no treatment,
Antibiotics in their drinking water (daily), or immunosuppressants given by intraperitoneal injection (two to three times weekly) over a 3- to 4-week period. The organs of animals were processed to determine the numbers of C. albicans and total aerobic bacteria per g of tissue. Untreated animals had mean Candida counts during the 1-month period of 10(2.3) CFU/g of cecum. Animals in six of eight antibiotic-treated groups had mean cecal Candida counts higher than those of control animals (P less than 0.05), with clindamycin-gentamicin producing the highest counts (10(4.7) CFU/g). Cyclophosphamide produced counts (10(4.3) CFU/g) which were higher (P less than 0.05) than those resulting from methotrexate (10(3.0) CFU/g) or steroid (10(2.7) CFU/g) treatment. Cyclophosphamide-clindamycin-gentamicin treatment was associated with the highest (P less than 0.05) levels of Candida colonization (10(6.5) CFU/g). Mice receiving immunosuppressants plus clindamycin-gentamicin were more likely to disseminate C. albicans than were mice receiving
Antibiotics alone (P less than 0.001). Our findings suggest that colonization of the guts of mice by C. albicans can be facilitated by manipulating the aerobic, anaerobic, or both types of gut flora. The combined effect of immunosuppressants on both Candida gut colonization and dissemination appears multifactorial and deserves further investigation.
Effect of parenteral
Antibiotic administration on establishment of intestinal colonization by Candida glabrata in adult mice.
Pultz NJ1, Stiefel U, Ghannoum M, Helfand MS, Donskey CJ.
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Abstract
We examined the effect of
Antibiotic treatment on establishment of intestinal colonization by Candida glabrata in adult mice. Subcutaneous ceftriaxone, piperacillin-tazobactam, clindamycin, and metronidazole promoted increased density of stool colonization, whereas cefepime, levofloxacin, and aztreonam did not. These findings suggest that
Antibiotics that inhibit intestinal anaerobes promote C. glabrata colonization.
Selective stimulation of the growth of anaerobic microflora in the human intestinal tract by electrolyzed reducing water.
Vorobjeva NV1.
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Abstract
96-99% of the "friendly" or residential microflora of intestinal tract of humans consists of strict anaerobes and only 1-4% of aerobes. Many diseases of the intestine are due to a disturbance in the balance of the microorganisms inhabiting the gut. The treatment of such diseases involves the restoration of the quantity and/or balance of residential microflora in the intestinal tract. It is known that aerobes and anaerobes grow at different oxidation-reduction potentials (ORP). The former require positive E(h) values up to +400 mV. Anaerobes do not grow unless the E(h) value is negative between -300 and -400 mV. In this work, it is suggested that prerequisite for the recovery and maintenance of obligatory anaerobic microflora in the intestinal tract is a negative ORP value of the intestinal milieu. Electrolyzed reducing water with E(h) values between 0 and -300 mV produced in electrolysis devices possesses this property. Drinking such water favours the growth of residential microflora in the gut. A sufficient array of data confirms this idea. However, most researchers explain the mechanism of its action by an antioxidant properties destined to detox the oxidants in the gut and other host tissues. Evidence is presented in favour of the hypothesis that the primary target for electrolyzed reducing water is the residential microflora in the gut.