The pathogenesis of experimental arteritis induced by Candida alkali-extract in mice

The pathogenesis of experimental arteritis induced by Candida alkali-extract in mice was studied from the immunological, pharmacological and chemical points of view. The following results were obtained. 1) The incidence of arteritis increased in parallel with IgE antibody level of Candida, as shown by the PCA method. 2) Candida polysaccharide showed cardiotonic, coronary vasodilatatory and vasoconstrictive activities on Langendorff's and spiral preparation of rats. 3) Candida polysaccharide was shown to contain digitoxose by gas-mass spectrometry. From these results, it is suspected that this extract reacts on experimental animals by the toxic and immunological mechanisms, and that these mechanisms may be related to the occurrence of arteritis.