The significance of Candida in the human respiratory tract: our evolving understanding

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Abstract

Candida is an opportunistic pathogen and the most commonly isolated fungal genus in humans. Though Candida is often detected in respiratory specimens from humans with and without lung disease, its significance remains undetermined. While historically considered a commensal organism with low virulence potential, the status of Candida as an innocent bystander has recently been called into question by both clinical observations and animal experimentation. We here review what is currently known and yet to be determined about the clinical, microbiological and pathophysiological significance of the detection of Candida spp. in the human respiratory tract. This is a review of what is currently known and yet to be determined about the clinical, microbiological and pathophysiological significance of the detection of Candida spp. in the human respiratory tract.

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The Microbiome and the Respiratory Tract.

Robert P. Dickson, John Erb-Downward, Fernando J Martínez … (2016)

Although the notion that "the normal lung is free from bacteria" remains common in textbooks, it is virtually always stated without citation or argument. The lungs are constantly exposed to diverse communities of microbes from the oropharynx and other sources, and over the past decade, novel culture-independent techniques of microbial identification have revealed that the lungs, previously considered sterile in health, harbor diverse communities of microbes. In this review, we describe the topography and population dynamics of the respiratory tract, both in health and as altered by acute and chronic lung disease. We provide a survey of current techniques of sampling, sequencing, and analysis of respiratory microbiota and review technical challenges and controversies in the field. We review and synthesize what is known about lung microbiota in various diseases and identify key lessons learned across disease states.

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The structure and synthesis of the fungal cell wall.

Shaun M Bowman, Stephen J Free (2006)

The fungal cell wall is a dynamic structure that protects the cell from changes in osmotic pressure and other environmental stresses, while allowing the fungal cell to interact with its environment. The structure and biosynthesis of a fungal cell wall is unique to the fungi, and is therefore an excellent target for the development of anti-fungal drugs. The structure of the fungal cell wall and the drugs that target its biosynthesis are reviewed. Based on studies in a number of fungi, the cell wall has been shown to be primarily composed of chitin, glucans, mannans and glycoproteins. The biosynthesis of the various components of the fungal cell wall and the importance of the components in the formation of a functional cell wall, as revealed through mutational analyses, are discussed. There is strong evidence that the chitin, glucans and glycoproteins are covalently cross-linked together and that the cross-linking is a dynamic process that occurs extracellularly. (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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Inhibition of pulmonary antibacterial defense by interferon-gamma during recovery from influenza infection.

Keer Sun, Dennis Metzger (2008)

Secondary bacterial infection often occurs after pulmonary virus infection and is a common cause of severe disease in humans, yet the mechanisms responsible for this viral-bacterial synergy in the lung are only poorly understood. We now report that pulmonary interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) produced during T cell responses to influenza infection in mice inhibits initial bacterial clearance from the lung by alveolar macrophages. This suppression of phagocytosis correlates with lung IFN-gamma abundance, but not viral burden, and leads to enhanced susceptibility to secondary pneumococcal infection, which can be prevented by IFN-gamma neutralization after influenza infection. Direct inoculation of IFN-gamma can mimic influenza infection and downregulate the expression of the class A scavenger receptor MARCO on alveolar macrophages. Thus, IFN-gamma, although probably facilitating induction of specific anti-influenza adaptive immunity, suppresses innate protection against extracellular bacterial pathogens in the lung.

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Author and article information

Journal

Title: Pathogens and Disease

Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)

ISSN (Electronic): 2049-632X

Publication date Created: March 31 2017

Publication date Created: April 01 2017

Publication date Created: April 2017

Publication date (Electronic): March 31 2017

Publication date (Print): April 01 2017

Publication date Other: April 2017

Volume: 75

Issue: 3

Affiliations

[1 ]Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA

[2 ]Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA

[3 ]Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA

[4 ]Mary H. Weiser Food Allergy Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA

Article

DOI: 10.1093/femspd/ftx029

PMC ID: 6433300

PubMed ID: 28423168

SO-VID: 68455b7c-dbea-4dc3-9c9b-ecd70cce6201

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The significance of Candida in the human respiratory tract: our evolving understanding

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Abstract

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European Respiratory Society: COVID-19

Most cited references 40

The Microbiome and the Respiratory Tract.

The structure and synthesis of the fungal cell wall.

Inhibition of pulmonary antibacterial defense by interferon-gamma during recovery from influenza infection.

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