STUDIES ON HYALURONIDASE, CHONDROITIN SULFATASE, PROTEINASE AND PHOSPHOLIPASE SECRETED BY CANDIDA SPECIES

We studied the ability of different Candida species to produce,at the same time, hyaluronidase, chondroitin sulphatase, proteinase, and phos pholipase to assess whether they could be related to Candida pathogeni city. Only C. albicans was able to produce the four enzymes tested (73 %) and was highly virulent to mice. Strains, that lack the capacity to produce one or more of the enzymes assayed, seemed less virulent or a virulent, similarly to the spontaneous hyaluronidase, chondroitin sulp hatase, phospholipase and proteinase-deficient C. albicans strain FCF 14, 1 which was non-pathogenic to mice. Among the other Candida specie s tested, none of them produced the four enzymes simultaneously, being less virulent in intravenously inoculated mice.