Abstract
A new “bead method” for Candida mannan detection developed recently was compared with avidin-biotin enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (AB-ELISA) using the serum of mice infected with Candida albicans.
BALB/c male mice (normal mice) and those treated with cyclophosphamide (CP-treated mice) were the experimental animals used. These mice were infected with C. albicans and sacrificed under ether anesthesia every day following inoculation, and the brain, heart, lung, liver, spleen, kidney, and serum were obtained from them. C. albicans was recovered from some organs of both mouse groups during the experimental period.
Histopathologically, in the normal mice the kidney and brain were more affected than the other organs. In the CP-treated mice, many lesions with massive fungal growth were observed in the kidney, heart and lung.
The maximum values of Candida mannan in the normal mouse serum were obtained two days after inoculation, 33.3ng/ml by the bead method and 21.3ng/ml by AB-ELISA. In the CP-treated mice, the maximum values were obtained three days after inoculation, 166.6ng/ml by the bead method and 100ng/ml by AB-ELISA.
The detection limit of Candida mannan by both the bead method and AB-ELISA was 0.8ng/ml.
The bead method is thus useful for detecting Candida mannan.
