King’s Study Provides Clues to Body’s Defence against Common Oral Infection

The culprit is a fungal peptide toxin called Candidalysin, which punches holes in cells lining the mouth and is sensed by the immune system, which then begins to mount a defence.

The new findings, published in the journal Science Immunology, could eventually lead to better treatments for oral thrush, which can produce pain severe enough to cause difficulty eating and swallowing, as well as other serious fungal infections.

The study’s co-senior author, Julian Naglik, Ph.D, who is professor of fungal pathogenesis and immunology at King’s College London Dental Institute, said, “The mouth is home to a large number of microbes, termed commensals, which are harmless in healthy individuals. However, suppression of the immune system can lead to severe and reoccurring painful oral infections from these organisms.”

One such example is the fungus Candida albicans. The harmless commensal form exists as a small single-celled organism, but when the immune system is compromised, Candida elongates into an invasive form, characterized by long filaments called hyphae, that causes a pervasive infection called oral candidiasis, or ‘thrush’.