Different Expression Levels of <i>ALS</i> and <i>SAP</i> Genes Contribute to Recurrent Vulvovaginal Candidiasis by <i>Candida Albicans</i>
Patricia Mendonca, Flávia K Tobaldini-Valério, Isis Regina Grenier Capoci, Daniella Renata Faria, Karina Mayumi Sakita, Gláucia Sayuri Arita, Melyssa Negri, Érika Seki Kioshima, Terezinha Inez Estivalet Svidzinski
Abstract
Aim: To study the behavior of Candida albicans in women with vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC), recurrent VVC (RVVC) and asymptomatic (AS), regarding adhesion on HeLa cells and their ability to express secreted aspartic proteinases (SAP) genes, agglutinin-like sequence (ALS) genes and HWP1. Materials & methods: The adhesion of Candida albicans to HeLa cells was evaluated by colony-forming units, and the expressed genes were evaluated by qRT-PCR. Results: AS and VVC isolates showed greater ability to adhere HeLa cells when compared with RVVC isolate. Nevertheless, RVVC isolate exhibited upregulation of a large number of genes of ALS and SAP gene families and HWP1 gene. Conclusion: The results demonstrated that RVVC isolate expressed significantly important genes for invasion and yeast–host interactions.