ABSTRACT

This chapter deals with the different types of enzymes reported for C. albicans with a description of their chemical nature and relation to pathogenicity. It reviews the pathogenicity determinants and pathogenicity pattern of Candida. Pathogenicity is defined as the capacity of microorganisms to cause disease. The concept that pathogenicity is a microbial property alone is inadequate as a basis for attempting to understand the process of infection. This is particularly true for Candida infection where even the most virulent Candida species, C. albicans, occurs ordinarily as a commensal in the human host, and is able to invade and damage tissues only when host defenses are impaired. Investigators tried to relate the differences in virulence between strains of C. albicans to differences in pathogenicity determinants, namely, adherence, proteinase, phospholipase, and germ-tube production. The role of bacterial and fungal toxins as pathogenicity determinants in the establishment or acceleration of diseases in humans is well recogonized for both bacterial and fungal toxins.