Experimental oral infection with the yeast Candida albicans in mice with or without inherited iron-deficiency anaemia (sla).

The role of iron deficiency in the development of oral candidosis was investigated using the mouse mutant sex-linked anaemia (sla). Susceptibility was assessed in terms of the recovery of organisms, particularly from oral swabs, and histological evidence of infection approximately 10 days after the last exposure to Candida albicans. The influence of three factors was studied in mixed groups of normal and anaemic mice: mode of inoculation, treatment with tetracycline and treatment with hydrocortisone. The most susceptible group had received drinking water containing tetracycline (1 mg/ml), hydrocortisone (0.1 mg/ml) and candida (5 X 10(4) c.f.u./ml for 6 days). Anaemic mice showed a rather higher rate of recovery of organisms and more frequent histological evidence of infection than normal mice in certain groups. Neither of these tendencies was statistically significant alone but, taken together, they suggest that some small difference of susceptibility may exist between normal mice and mice with sla. The mouse model could be of value in studying the influence of several other inherited disorders on susceptibility to candidosis.