OBJECTIVE: To explore the oral infection of C.albicans in ICR mice to establish a systemic infection model, and observe the proliferation and distribution of C.albicans in mice after mucosal infection.
Method: 46 male ICR mice were randomly divided into model group A (n=20), model group B (n=20), and control group (n=6). The model group was inoculated with C.albicans (7×106cfu/mL) orally by cotton swab method, and the control group was inoculated with equal volume of normal saline in the same way. Model group A mice were used for clinical, survival, and necropsy observation experiments; model group B randomly dissected 5 mice on the 3rd, 5th, and 7th day after inoculation for tissue load and pathological examination (each time point in the control group) 2 animals were dissected), the amount of bacteria contained in the mouse tissues was detected by the viable plate counting method, and the histopathological changes of the mouse tongue, stomach, liver, and kidney were observed under light microscope. Results: On the third day after inoculation, the mice in the model group showed obvious white spots on the tongue surface and increased with time to cause death. On the fifth day, the mortality rate of the mice exceeded 50%, and the mortality rate on the seventh day reached 100%. C. albicans was isolated from the stomach (87.5%), liver (54.5%), kidney (50.5%), lung (20%), and heart (4%), stomach (87.5%), and internal organs. Microscopic observation was observed in the tongue, esophagus, stomach, and liver. There was hyphae proliferation in the kidney, and the control group did not see the growth of C. albicans, suggesting that the mice in the model group caused a disseminated systemic infection due to C. albicans mucosal infection.
Conclusion: C. albicans can break through the mucosal immune barrier under certain conditions and cause opportunistic systemic infections in mice, thereby aggravating infection and death.