Mannan, from Candida albicans

Fig. 12.—Separation of Methanolysis Products from Methylated Mannan of Candida albicans. (Key (A) methyl 2,3,4,6-tetra-O-methyl-a-D-mannopyranoside (B) unknown (C) methyl 3,4,6-tri-O-raethyl-a-D-mannopyranoside (D) methyl 2,3,6-tri-O-methyl-a-D-mannopyranoside (E) methyl 3,4-di-0-methyI-a-D-mannopyranoside.)...

The mannans isolated from Candida albicans strains, NIH A-207 (serotype A), NIH B-792 (serotype B), and J-1012 (serotype C), were fractionated on a column of DEAE-Sephadex into five subfractions containing different amounts of phosphate. 

The D-mannan (22) isolated from Lampteromyces japonicus resembles that from 5. cerevisiae except for the absence of (1 3)-linkages. A closer structural resemblance exists with the D-mannans of Saccharomyces rouxiU Trichosporon aculeatum, and Candida albicans. 

Although a variety of serologic tests have been proposed for the detection of Candida protein antigens, serum antibodies to Candida, and antibodies to cell wall components such as mannan, no test has demonstrated reliable accuracy in the clinical setting for the diagnosis of disseminated infection with Candida. Only 25% to 45% of neutropenic patients with disseminated candidiasis at autopsy had a positive blood culture with C. albicans prior to death. The interpretation of positive surveillance cultures of the skin, mouth, sputum, feces, or urine is hampered by their occurrence as commensal pathogens and in distinguishing colonization from invasive disease. 

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