Establishment of Candida albicans in the Alimentary Tract of the Germ‐Free Mice and Antagonism with Escherichia coli after Oral Inoculation

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Abstract
To solve the problems of the multiplication and invasion of Candida albicans in the alimentary tract, germ‐free mice were orally inoculated with C. albicans and the antagonistic effect of superinfection with Escherichia coli was examined. C. albicans could easily be established in the alimentary tract of germ‐free mice by inoculation with less than 10 organisms, whereas in the alimentary tract of the SPF mice, having normal bacterial flora, C. albicans could not establish even after inoculation with an overwhelming dose. In germ‐free mice large numbers of the inoculated Candida were excreted in the feces throughout the observation period of 130 days, without affecting the conditions of the mice. By histopathological examination of these mice only one mouse showed microabscesses with leukocytic infiltration accompanied by hyperkeratosis and acanthosis in the epithelium of the forestomach. However even in this mouse no invasion of Candida cells into the acanthotic squamous cell layer was seen. After inoculation of the mice who had already E. coli in their gut as a monocontaminant with C. albicans, or even after inoculation of E. coli to the mice harboring Candida as a monocontaminant, E. coli always outnumbered C. albicans. In the former case Candida were even completely eliminated from the mice within few days. Thus, it appeared that in the alimentary tract of the mice, E. coli have the capacity to antagonize to C. albicans.