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Candidiasis: antibodies to Candida albicans in the blood
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Antibodies to Candida albicans in serum are normal.
Most often candidiasis is caused by Candida albicans. Candida albicans are oval, yeast-like fungi reproducing by budding and spore formation. Normally, candida are representatives of the resident microflora of the oral mucosa, the gastrointestinal tract (normally the bacterial stool content of Candida albicans does not exceed 10 4 cfu / ml) and the female urinary organs. The main cause of Candida infection is immunosuppression associated with chemotherapy of malignant tumors or organ transplantation. The second most frequent cause of systemic candidiasis is extensive burns and extensive surgical interventions, especially on the abdominal organs.
Diagnosis of superficial candidiasis is based on the detection of fungal elements in a stained smear. With visceral forms of candidamycosis, serological studies are of great diagnostic importance. An ELISA method is used to detect antibodies of IgG class to Candida albicans. Antibodies are detected by the enzyme immunoassay in more than 90% of patients already in the first 2 weeks of the disease, they survive up to 5 years in the ill. To confirm the diagnosis, it is important to monitor the dynamics of antibody content, a 4-fold increase in antibody titres between acute and convalescent stages suggests the etiology of the disease, a 4-fold decrease in their level during treatment, an indicator of successful therapy of the disease.
Serological diagnosis with superficial candidiasis is ineffective, only severe forms of skin and mucous membrane damage are accompanied by an increase in the antibody content.
Determination of antibodies to Candida albicans is necessary for the diagnosis of Candida doses of different locations:
- suppurative inflammatory processes;
- inflammatory diseases of the lungs;
- inflammatory diseases of the pharynx;
- inflammatory diseases of the genital organs.
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