Recently much attention has been payed to the increase of candidiasis, due to the doral changes following the use of antibiotics. Candida, a common saprophite in human body, does not directly cause candidiasis. Therefore, fundamental investigations on the distribution of the microorganisms in the human body as well as the studies on the developmental mechanisms of this disease are requested.
In a series of investigations, candida was isolated 3, 187 times in total from 92 pregnant women and their 93 newborns. The first section is devoted to the isolation of candida from vagina before and after the labor pains as well as before and after the delivery. The second section deals with the occurrence of candida in the mucous membrane of the eye-lid, oral cavity, vagina and rectum in germ free fetus after passing through the maternal vagina.
These obsevations were made during 10 days after the birth. The studies in the third section were designated to secure the histopathological evidences following the experimental infection by intravenous or intraperitoneal inoculation of C. albicans into the mucous membrane of the eye-lid, oral cavity and vagina of rabbits, fragile to mechanical force. In these studies, the primary appearance and distribution of candida in the organs of newborn was investigated with respect to the conditions of maternal vagina, and secondarily the factors related to the fluctuation of the number of candida were studied, i.e. the findings of amniotic fluid, blood pictures in pregnancy and changes of pH in the respective mucus membrane, and finally, an attempt was made to decide wether 2 or 3 kinds of the factors actually cause the infection. The results were as follows:
The first section:
1. The isolation rate of candida from vagina of pregnant women was 29.35% in the later period of pregnancy, began to decrease (14.20%) from about the beginning of labour pains, and was as low as 8.15% during the puerperal period, about 10, days after the birth of child. C. albicans predominated among the other organisms.
2. i, acteriophagy of leucocytes in blood of pregnant women increased remarkably after the occurrence of labour pains and is considered to be one of the factors causing candidiasis.
3. None of Candida was found in vagina of pregnant women within 9 hours immediately after the delivery.
4. The growth of candida was not inhibited by amniotic fluid nor affected by changes of pH in vagina.
The second section:
1. Candida in the respective mucous membrane of newborns began to appear from about 10 hours after birth.
2. As for the incidence of fungi in newborns the isolation rate from eyelid and rectum was similar to the rate from normal mucous membrane, that from oral cavity lowest 4.66% and that from vagina highest 65.23%. Among the species of Candida, C. albicans predominated in the respective mucous membrane.
3. C. albicans in oral cavity of newborns was considered as pathogenic, and especially the infants with continuous isolation of the fungus from the third day after birth, demonstrated a great danger of occurrence of thrush (80%).
4. Candida in maternal vagina was found to affect the occurrence of candida in the newborns until about the fifth day after birth.
The third section:
1. Inoculation of C. albicans into rabbit mucous membrane fragile to mechanical force caused metastasis of the fungus into remote organs without respect to the development of local condidiasis at the site of inoculation.
2. Histological findings such as hemorrhage, degeneration, necrosis and granuomatous infiammotion associated with abscess were demonstrated in rabbit organs which developed experimental candidiasis.
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