FIGURE 1.

The colonization and dissemination of C. albicans in Rag2γc mice was dose-dependent. Groups of Rag2γc (RAG) or B6 mice (n = 6) were infected with either 1 × 10⁷, 1 × 10⁶, or 1 × 10⁵ cells of Candida albicans strain SC5314 by oral gavage. The fecal fungal counts (A), body weight (B), and the survival rates (C) from two independent animal experiments are combined and presented as the means value and SD. (D) On day 12, GI tissues from infected mice (n = 2), including tissues from the stomach (ST), small intestine (S. Int), ileum (Ile), and colon (Col), were collected and homogenized, and the homogenates were used for cultures. The numbers of colonies were normalized to the tissue weights and presented as the means values with SD. For statistical analysis, 1-way ANOVA (A,B) and the Mantel-Cox test (C) were used (*, **, and *** for p < 0.05, p < 0.01, and p < 0.001, respectively).