Candida albicans virulence factor during fungal pathogenesis and local immune response in patients with Recurrent Vulvovaginal Candidiasis.

ANGIOLINI, SOFÍA CARLA; RODRIGUEZ, EMILSE; CASTILLO, GRACIELA; MIRÓ, MARÍA SOLEDAD; ICELY, PAULA ALEJANDRA; CAEIRO, JUAN PABLO; SOTOMAYOR, CLAUDIA ELENA

Congreso; LXVII Reunion Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Inmunología; 2019

Candida vaginitis is a frequent clinical diagnosis with up to 9% of women experiencing recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis(RVVC) globally. RVVC is characterized by at least three episodes per year. Our aim was to characterize virulence pattern of different C.albicans clinical isolates from RVVC patients and the local innate immune response during infection. Related to fungal pathogenesis we evaluated: yeast to-hypha transition and hyphal growth, adhesion to female genital tract epithelial cells(FGT)(Hela cells) and biofilm formation capacity(BFC)(XTT assay) from 12 RVVC isolates and C.albicans-SC5314 (strain collection). Cervicovaginal lavage(CVL) of patients with accute form of mycosis(AVVC), RVVC and healthy women(HW) was obtained by instilling 3ml of sterile saline into the vagina. Cells recovered from CVL were used for RNA extraction and evaluation of immune mediator by qPCR. All strains developed hyphal morphotype after 2h and 62.5 % of isolates exhibited strong hyphal growth compared to C.albicans-SC5314(p<0.01). 82% of the evaluated strains showed more than 3 C.albicans adhered per Hela cells after 1h of incubation and 100% exhibited BFC. The analysis of the correlation between the adherence cell capacity and biofilm formation has a R2=0.48 with a statistical significance(p<0.01). Meanwhile the IL-1 mRNA showed a slight increase compared to the levels observed in CVL of HW(p<0.01), the expression of this cytokine was strongly increased in patients with RVVC(p<0.001). TNF expression was higher in patients with AVVC compared to HW(p<0.01) and RVVC(p<0.001). Identification and knowledge of fungal and cellular processes during host-pathogen interaction, contributes to a better understanding of RVVC and open new treatment approach.