ACUTE LABYRINTHITIS ASSOCIATED WITH SYSTEMIC CANDIDA-ALBICANS INFECTION IN AGING MICE

The yeast Candida albicans is an important opportunistic pathogen that has been associated with disease of the inner ear. This study describ es the histopathology of acute labyrinthitis caused by systemic infect ion with C. albicans in ageing inbred mice. Within four days after inf ection, yeast and hyphal forms of C. albicans were found in the membra nous labyrinth. The utricle and the adjacent parts of the ampullary re gions of the semicircular canals were most severely affected, but dama ge was also seen in the scala media, the scala tympani, the saccule, a nd the scala vestibuli. In the utricle, the lining epithelium of the m embranous labyrinth was disrupted, and the lining cells of the vestibu lar membrane showed foci in which the membrane was disrupted. The data suggest that age may represent a risk factor for fungal labyrinthitis .