Experimental hematogenous endophthalmitis due to Candida: species variation in ocular pathogenicity

The ocular pathogenicity of species of Candida other than albicans was studied in the rabbit model of hematogenous candida endophthalmitis by injection of 10(5)-10(8) colony-forming units of Candida krusei, Candida parapsilosis, Candida guilliermondii, Candida tropicalis, Candida stellateoidea, and Candida albicans (control). At one and three weeks after infection, rabbits were examined by indirect ophthalmoscopy and were sacrificed for culture of eyes and kidneys. With an inoculum of 10(8) organisms, C. tropicalis and C. stellatoidea infected the kidneys but only occasionally infected the chorioretina and never infected the vitreous. Organisms were cultured only rarely from the kidneys of rabbits infected with C. krusei, C. guilliermondii, and C. parapsilosis; these species were never isolated from eyes. The C. albicans control consistently infected the kidney, chorioretina, and vitreous; approximately equal numbers of C. albicans were isolated from these organs. These data suggest a relative resistance of ocular tissues to hematogenous candida infections with species other than C. albicans.