Candida biofilm formation and recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis
Yao Sun A B , Xenia Kostoulias A C and Yue Qu A C *A Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, Vic. 3800, Australia.
B Department of Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Zhejiang, 325000, PR China.
C Department of Infectious Diseases, The Alfred Hospital and Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Vic. 3004, Australia.
Dr Yao Sun is a visiting PhD student at Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute. Her research interests include biofilm-related hospital-acquired infections, antimicrobial resistance of Gram-negative bacteria, and collateral sensitivity of bacterial pathogens in the clinical settings. |
Dr Xenia Kostoulias is a senior research assistant at Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Central Clinical School. Xenia is interested in virulence and mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance in hospital-acquired microorganisms, with a special interest in the contribution of different microbial growth modes to this process. Xenia uses a range of methods including in vivo infection models as well as static and dynamic biofilm models to conduct her investigations. |
Dr Yue Qu is a senior research fellow at the Department of Infectious Diseases, the Alfred Hospital and Monash University. His expertise is in translational medical research and has contributed significantly to the field of medical device-related biofilm infections, from disease pathogenesis to prevention and treatment. His research has a broad coverage of bacterial and fungal pathogens, different infectious diseases, including bloodstream infections, recurrent vaginal candidiasis, ventricular assist device driveline infections, and other medical device-related infections. |
Microbiology Australia 44(2) 92-95 https://doi.org/10.1071/MA23026
Submitted: 24 March 2023 Accepted: 21 April 2023 Published: 8 May 2023
© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the ASM. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)
Abstract
Recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis (RVVC), a recalcitrant Candida infection of the lower female reproductive tract, is a difficult-to-treat medical condition affecting the morbidity of many otherwise healthy women. Cumulative experimental evidence supports the involvement of biofilm formation of Candida in the pathogenesis of RVVC and its treatment failure. In this review, we will discuss important insights into the roles of Candida biofilms in RVVC.
Keywords: antifungal resistance, biofilm formation, Candida species, pathogenesis, persistence, recurrence, vulvovaginal candidiasis.
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