Role of Lymphocyte Dysfunction in Fungal Infection Subsequent to Antibiotic Exposure

Risk for invasive candidiasis resulting from exposure to broad-spectrum antibacterials has long been recognized and attributed to dysbiosis triggering candidal proliferation on skin and mucosal surfaces at the expense of commensal bacteria. Now, Drummond and colleagues demonstrate that the mechanism underlying increased risk for invasive candidiasis from antibiotics is more complex.

In a Candida albicans bloodstream infection model, mice that received a cocktail of ampicillin, metronidazole, neomycin, and vancomycin had excess mortality. These mice showed greater burden of hematogenously derived candida throughout all tissue layers of the gut, suggesting gastrointestinal (GI) tract vulnerability to invasive candidal infection triggered by an…