• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.7
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• pp.1031-1040
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• 2013

Candida albicans is a dimorphic fungus that commensally colonizes human mucosal surfaces. The aim of this study was to assess the role of different C. albicans morphologies in inducing pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) and cytokines in macrophages. Macrophages may respond to pathogen-associated molecular patterns via TLR2 and TLR4 by expressing cytokines. The hyphal transition of C. albicans was induced by 20% serum (S), RPMI-1640 (R), or $39^{\circ}C$ culture (H). Macrophages were then challenged with either yeast (Y) or different hyphae cultures of C. albicans, followed by RT-PCR and FACS analysis of PRRs expression. In addition, macrophages were stimulated with either yeast or different hyphae cultures of C. albicans used by RT-PCR and Bio-Plex analysis of cytokines production. Macrophages expressed high levels of TLR4 and dectin-1 after stimulation with Y cells. In contrast, stimulation with H or R cells strongly increased the expression of TLR2 and dectin-2. Stimulation with Y cells significantly enhanced the expression of IL-$1{\beta}$ and weakly increased the expression of IL-6 and IL-12. Stimulation with hyphal cells (S, R, and H) strongly increased IL-10 expression, but weakly reduced IL-$1{\beta}$ expression. The phagocytosis activity and NO production of macrophages were decreased upon treatment with hyphal cells compared with yeast, and depended on the length of hyphae. In summary, the yeast and hyphae forms of C. albicans resulted in an induction of different PRRs, with accompanying differences in immune cell cytokine profiles.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.143-153
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• 2004

Antimicrobial activities against Streptococcus mutans, Candida albicans, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus aureus were assayed through the hot water extracts and the ethanol extracts from Chungyulsodokeum and its composition oriental medicines. The stains were incubated on culture medium and activated. We observed the size of inhibition zone on the strains that is incubated in strilized filter paper disc with various concentration extracts of Chungyulsodokeum and its composition 1. The extracts of Chungyulsodokeum, Coptidis Rhizoma, Paeoniae Radix, Glycyrrhizae Radix, Gardeniae Fructus showed antimicrobial activities against Staphylococcus aureus. 2. The extracts of Chungyulsodokeum, Coptidis Rhizoma, Paeoniae Radix, Forsythiae Fructus Ghycyrrhizae Radix, showed antimiaobial activities against Staphylococcus epidermidis. 3. The extracts of Chungyulsodokeum, Coptidis Rhizoma, Paeoniae Radix, Glycyrrhizae Radix, showed antimicrobial activities against Streptococcus mutans. 4. The extract of Coptidis Rhizoma showed antimicrobial activities against Candida albicans. 5. None of the extracts showed antimicrobial activities against Escherichia coli. We observed antimicrobial activities of Chungyulsodokeum and its composition against Streptococcus mutans, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus aureus.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 1994

This study was performed to investigate the biostimulation effects of low level laser therapy (LLLT) on the fungus, Candida albicans, during the short term of cell cycle. Samples were divided into 6 groups which were P7, P9, P11, P15< CW and CO. All samples were irradiated for 1 minute with 2 hours of elapsed time during about 27 hours of the cell cycle of Candida albicans, and the optical density was assessed by spectrophotometry every 2 hours. It was found that there was no difference between the control and any other groups irradiated with 2 hours of short interval.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.136-142
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• 1998

Atratoxin $B_1$ which was found to inhibit the growth of Candida albicans caused structural and morphological alteration of the cells. Increased accumulation of vesicles and membranous bodies in the cytoplasm, and alterations of the cell membrane and cell wall were most obvious. Sequential lytic events of the cells eventually resulted in complete disintegration of the cytoplasmic structures. These results suggested that atratoxin $B_1$ functioned by either blocking the biosynthetic step during cell wall synthesis, altering cell wall metabolism or dissolution of the cell organelles. These changes caused a progressive destruction of the cell wall leading to cell lysis.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.331-336
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• 2018

In this study, multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) analysis of 40 clinically isolated Candida albicans in tertiary hospitals in Daejeon, Korea, confirmed the nucleotide sequence and phylogenetic relationships of the strains collected from different specimen sources. The general variations found in seven different housekeeping genes of C. albicans, collected from urine and sputum, peripheral blood, central line blood, and other specimens, were analyzed. The phylogenetic tree was divided into 18 sub-clusters (1), a central line blood (2), others (5), sputum (1), peripheral blood (6), sputum (1), and urine (1), and the isolates at the same site were confirmed to have genetic similarity. Consequently, genetic similarity and the potential relevance were found in the strains collected from the same specimen sources. MLST analysis of C. albicans suggests that persistent data accumulation of phylogenetic gene variations of C. albicans may help establish infectious disease studies and epidemiological surveillance systems.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.19-29
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• 2010

Phytoncide, essential oil of trees, has microbicidal, insecticidal, acaricidal, and deodorizing effect. The present study was performed to examine the effect of phytoncide on Candida albicans, which is a commensal colonizer of the mucous membranes but has become an opportunistic pathogen. C. albicans was incubated with or without phytoncide extracted from Hinoki (Chamaecyparis obtusa Sieb. et Zucc.; Japanese cypress) and then changes were observed in its optical density, cell viability and morphology. As concentrations of phytoncide added to the culture medium increased, optical density and cell viability of C. albicans decreased. Minimum inhibitory concentration of phytoncide for C. albicans was observed to be 0.25%, and minimum fungicidal concentration was 0.5%. Numbers of morphologically atypical cells with electron-dense cytoplasm and granules and increased with increasing concentration of the phytoncide. At higher concentrations of phytoncide, compartments and organelles in the cytoplasm became indistinguishable. The overall results indicate that the phytoncide used for this study has a strong antimicrobial activity against C. albicans. Therefore, the phytoncide may be used as a candidate for prevention and therapeutic agent against oral candidiasis.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.73-80
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• 2024

The aim of this study was to investigate the distribution and antifungal susceptibilities of Candida spp. from blood culture to provide useful information on empirical treatment of Candidemia. We investigated distribution and antifungal susceptibilities of Candida spp. isolated from blood culture during an 8-years (2016-2023) in a C-University hospital. Over 8 years, 1,182 Candida strains from blood culture were isolated, which was fourth most common cause of bloodstream infection. Among nonduplicated 350 Candida strains, C. albicans was the most common with 45.43%, followed by C. glabrata (17.43%), C. tropicalis (17.43%), C. parapsilosis (14.86%), C. guilliermondii (1.71%), C. krusei (0.86%), C. lusitaniae (0.86%), C. ciferrii (0.57%). In the antifungal susceptibility testing on 323 Candida strains, the non-susceptibility rate was 2.48% for amphotericin B, 1,71% for flucytosine, 3.09% for fluconazole, 4.66% for voriconazole, 5.57% for caspofungin, and 0.62% for micafungin. In particular, C. albicans showed non-susceptibility of 8.23% to voriconazole, and C. glabrata showed 14.81% and 24.59% to fluconazole and caspofungin, respectively. These data showed that the prevalence of candidemia is very common, and antifungal resistance in Candida spp., especially C. glabrata, is increasing. Therefore, periodic surveillance of prevalence and antifungal susceptibility of blood culture is very important for clinical laboratory.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.8
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• pp.803-809
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• 2009

Recent evidence has revealed the occurrence of an apoptotic phenotype in Candida albicans that is inducible with environmental stresses such as acetic acid, hydrogen peroxide, and amphotericin B. In the present study, we found that the Chinese herbal medicine Baicalein (BE), which was one of the skullcapflavones, can induce apoptosis in C. albicans. The apoptotic effects of BE were detected by flow cytometry using Annexin V-FITC and DAPI, and it was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy analysis. After exposure to 4 ${\mu}g$/ml BE for 12 h, about 10% of C. albicans cells were apoptotic. Both the increasing intracellular levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and upregulation of some redox-related genes (CAP1, SOD2, TRR1) were observed. Furthermore, we compared the survivals of CAP1 deleted, wild-type, and overexpressed strains and found that Cap1p attenuated BE-initiated cell death, which was coherent with a higher mRNA level of the CAP1 gene. In addition, the mitochondrial membrane potential of C. albicans cells changed significantly (p<0.001) upon BE treatment compared with control. Taken together, our results indicated that BE treatment induced apoptosis in C. albicans cells, and the apoptosis was associated with the breakdown of mitochondrial membrane potential.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.61 no.7
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• pp.217-220
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• 2018

Purpose: Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is a chronic and immune-mediated disease, which is characterized by the progressive destruction of pancreatic beta cells. T1DM precipitates in genetically susceptible individuals through environmental factors. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the impact of autoimmunity and intestinal colonization of Candida albicans on the development of T1DM. Methods: Forty-two patients newly diagnosed with T1DM and 42 healthy subjects were included in this monocentric study. The basic and clinical characteristics of the patients were recorded. T1DM-, thyroid-, and celiac-associated antibodies were evaluated. Stool cultures for C. albicans were performed to assess whether or not gut integrity was impaired in patients with T1DM. Results: The evaluation of T1DM- and thyroid-associated antibodies showed that the prevalences of islet cell antibodies and antithyroperoxidase positivity were higher in the study patients than in the patients in the control group. Furthermore, the direct examination and culture of fresh stool samples revealed that 50% of the patients with T1DM and 23.8% of the control subjects had fungi (C. albicans). Conclusion: Through this study, we suggest that the presence of intestinal C. albicans colonization at the time of the diagnosis of T1DM may indicate impairment of normal intestinal microbiota. We also suggest that there may be a tendency of T1DM in patients with a high prevalence of intestinal C. albicans.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.242-247
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• 2008

In the fungal pathogen Candida albicans, the yeast-to-hyphal transition occurs in response to a broad range of environmental stimuli and is considered to be a major virulence factor. To address whether the zinc homeostasis affects the growth or pathogenicity of C. albicans, we functionally characterized the zinc-finger protein Csr1 during filamentation. The deduced amino acid sequence of Csr1 showed a 49% similarity to the zinc-specific transcription factor, Zap1 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Sequential disruptions of CSR1 were carried out in diploid C. albicans. The csr1/csr1 mutant strain showed severe growth defects under zinc-limited growth conditions and the filamentation defect under hypha-inducing media. The colony morphology and the germ-tube formation were significantly affected by the csr1 mutation. The expression of the hyphae-specific gene HWP1 was also impaired in csr1/csr1 cells. The C. albicans homologs of ZRTl and ZRT2, which are zinc-transporter genes in S. cerevisiae, were isolated. High-copy number plasmids of these genes suppressed the filamentation defect of the csr1/csr1 mutant strain. We propose that the filamentation phenotype of C. albicans is closely associated with the zinc homeostasis in the cells and that Csr1 plays a critical role in this regulation.