A comparison of humoral response to oral candidiasis on mice

Objective: The aims of this study were to compare the oral infection with C. albicans in two inbred mice that are genetically susceptible or resistant to candidiasis using a murine model and to explore the patterns of antibody production from these two mice after oral challenge with C. albicans. Methods: Inbred female BALB/c and CBA/CaH mice and C. albicans 3630 were used in this study. Oral infection was established on murine mouth by inoculation of live C. albicans, and monitored by swabbing. The antibody production profile of mouse was determined by Western Blotting after oral immunization with yeasts. Results: CBA/CaH mice demonstrated a severer oral infection than BALB/c mice, and showed a stronger humoral response to oral infection by producing IgG1, IgG2a and IgM, whereas BALB/c mice produced only IgG1 antibodies. Conclusions: Oral infection pattern in this study was consistent with the pattern of systemic infection for these two strains of inbred mice, confirming that the genetic factors play a key role for severity of both oral and systemic candidiasis. C. albicans-specific IgM might play a protective role for oral Candida infection in mice.