Candida stellatoidea is a type of yeast that lives as a saprophyte and is not an obligate pathogen. It is an opportunistic pathogen at best that can cause mucosal infections and sepsis (blood poisoning) in immunocompromised patients. Sepsis from the pathogen is equivalent to fungemia and is a life-threatening condition.
What is Candida stellatoidea ?
Candida corresponds to a genus of yeasts that fall into the division of tubular fungi, or Ascomycota, and are classified under the subdivision Saccharomycotina. The genus of yeast belongs to the class Saccharomycetes and within it belongs to the order Genuine Yeasts or Saccharomycetales. The superordinate family of Candida are the Inceratae sedis. There are about 150 different species of the genus. The species Candida stellatoidea is one of them. The species seems to be closely related to Candida albicans in particular. Apparently, its genome is a mutation of the Candida albicans genome. Candida is always regarded as a polymorphic fungus and thus forms in different growth forms. Its single cells are roundish-oval in shape and have a diameter of about four to ten micrometers. In addition to the formation of pseudomyceles in filamentous form, the formation of true hyphae is also considered typical for some Candida species. However, the latter only applies to manifest infection with the yeasts. The fungal species Candida stellatoidea is distributed worldwide. The species forms colonies of elongated or cylindrical sprouts. Usually, the pseudomyceles of the yeast appear long and tortuous. Cluster-like blastospores of small size are located along them. Representatives of the species Candida stellatoidea are saprophytes, which are opportunistic pathogens. Thus, the species may be human pathogenic. As a yeast, the species corresponds to a unicellular and eukaryotic microorganism that reproduces by sprouting, fission, or division.
Occurrence, distribution and characteristics
The fungal species Candida stellatoidea is a saprophyte. As such, representatives of the species do not engage in photosynthesis or chemosynthesis. Yeasts belong to the chemo-organotrophic organisms and operate their energy metabolism through energy sources of organic origin. Thus, glucose, maltose, fructose or sucrose serve as their energy source. They can also grow in the complete absence of sunlight and feel most comfortable in environments with neutral or slightly acidic pH values. As saprophytes, representatives of Candida stellatoidea feed heterotrophically without exception and in this sense need organically dead substances for their metabolism. They metabolize these substances to more energy-rich substances and convert them in the course into inorganic substances. Candida stellatoidea reproduce similar to other yeast cells by sprouting. During this process, a region of the cell wall is protruded from each mother cell, thus forming a bud. Nucleus copies migrate into the bud thus formed and completely separate from the mother cell. Shoot fungi are, under particularly favorable conditions, capable of forming cell associations. Since the cells of their associations do not communicate with each other, they are so-called pseudomycelia instead of true mycelia.
Meaning and function
The yeast species Candida stellatoidea is not an obligate pathogen. It lives with humans as a harmless saprophyte and is thus more of a commensal. In this context, the yeast species does not harm or benefit humans. As commensals, Candida can occur on the skin, on mucous membranes, in the gastrointestinal tract or in the vagina. The yeast species Candida stellatoidea usually settles there without causing any symptoms of infection. This is the case in people with a healthy immune system. Their defense system prevents infection by sending immune cells to intervene before the yeast cells spread. The immune cells recognize the yeast as foreign to the body and render it harmless in time. The pathological significance of Candida stellatoidea can thus be classified as low. Nevertheless, there are fluid boundaries between parasites and saprophytes. And so, under certain conditions, a harmless saprophyte such as Candida stellatoidea can become a parasite or pathogen. The Candida species is therefore also referred to as an opportunistic pathogen, despite its prevalence as a commensal.
Diseases and ailments
Immunodeficiency can cause the harmless yeast species Candida stellatoidea to become a pathogen. Immunodeficiency is associated with diseases such as AIDS, for example, but it is also associated with debilitation from diseases such as cancer or previous infections. In addition, age-related weakness of the immune system is to be expected. Therapeutic approaches for autoimmune diseases also suppress the immune system. In immunocompromised patients, Candida species can achieve extreme spread in the body due to the failure of the immune system to intervene. As a result, not only mycoses of internal mucous membranes, such as the vaginal mucosa or the inner lining of the heart, set in. Infection with Candida stellatoidea also poses a risk of Candida sepsis. This type of sepsis is equivalent to fungemia, which is blood poisoning caused by fungi or yeasts. Sepsis is a systemic inflammatory reaction that can be life-threatening. Infections with Candida stellatoidea are mostly endogenous infections. For purely external mycoses caused by Candida, antifungal agents are used therapeutically. Complications such as Candida sepsis often have an unfavorable course and require therapy with amphotericin B or liposomal amphotericin B. In some circumstances, voriconazole, posaconazole, caspofungin, or anidulafungin may also be used. Affected patients are usually cared for in the intensive care unit, where they can be monitored 24 hours a day.
