Morphology-independent virulence of Candida species during polymicrobial XXXX with @entity794 .

@entity9841 @entity32 @entity375 @entity18873 @entity19 @entity7408 @entity1421 @entity794 @entity7409 @entity5132 @entity325 @entity1320 @entity2332
UNASSIGNED: Intra-abdominal polymicrobial infections cause significant morbidity and mortality. An experimental @entity19 model of @entity5132 - @entity794 @entity1320 results in 100% mortality by 48-72 h post-inoculation while monomicrobial infections are avirulent. Mortality is associated with robust local and systemic @entity32 , without a requirement for @entity5132 morphogenesis. However, the contribution of virulence factors co-regulated during the @entity375 to hyphal transition is unknown. This also raised the question as to whether other Candida species that are unable to form hyphae are as virulent as @entity5132 during polymicrobial IAI. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the ability of non-albicans Candida (NAC) species with various morphologies and @entity5132 transcription factor mutants (efg1/efg1, cph1/cph1) to induce synergistic mortality and accompanied @entity32 . Results showed that @entity794 co-inoculated with C. krusei, or @entity9841 were highly lethal similar to @entity5132 , while @entity794 - @entity18873 , - @entity7409 and - @entity7408 co-inoculations resulted in little to no mortality. Local and systemic IL-6 and @entity1421 were significantly elevated during symptomatic and/or lethal @entity325 , and @entity2332 strongly correlated with mortality. Co-inoculation with @entity5132 strains deficient in the transcription factor Efg1, but not Cph1, reversed the lethal outcome. These results support previous findings and demonstrate that select Candida species, without reference to any morphological requirement, induce synergistic mortality, with IL-6 and @entity1421 acting as key inflammatory factors. Mechanistically, signaling pathways controlled by Efg1 are critical for the ability of @entity5132 to induce mortality from an intra-abdominal polymicrobial infection.
