Bioluminescence imaging increases in vivo screening efficiency for antifungal activity against device-associated...

Area of Science:

• Medical Mycology
• Infectious Diseases
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Fungal infections, particularly Candida albicans, pose significant threats to immunocompromised patients.
• Candida albicans biofilms on medical implants are a major cause of persistent infections.
• Current animal models for antifungal drug testing lack longitudinal monitoring capabilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a non-invasive bioluminescence imaging (BLI) method for dynamic in vivo monitoring of Candida albicans biofilms.
• To assess the efficacy of antifungal agents against established biofilms using BLI in a catheter-associated mouse model.
• To compare the antibiofilm activity of echinocandins, amphotericin B, and fluconazole.

Main Methods:

• Development of a bioluminescent Candida albicans strain for in vivo imaging.
• Establishment of a catheter-associated mouse model to study biofilm formation.
• Application of BLI for real-time quantification of biofilm load before and during antifungal treatment.
• Validation of BLI findings with colony-forming unit (CFU) counts.

Main Results:

• BLI allows for baseline biofilm load assessment, crucial for interpreting treatment efficacy.
• The BLI approach effectively monitors the in vitro and in vivo antibiofilm activity of antifungal agents.
• Echinocandins demonstrated superior antibiofilm activity compared to amphotericin B and fluconazole.
• In vivo, caspofungin significantly reduced biofilm fungal load, confirmed by BLI and CFU counts.

Conclusions:

• BLI provides a powerful and efficient non-invasive tool for screening and validating antimycotic drugs.
• This approach refines pre-clinical therapy studies by enabling dynamic monitoring of antifungal treatment in vivo.
• BLI enhances the evaluation of antibiofilm efficacy in complex host-associated infection models.