The human body harbors bacteria and viruses, but also a collection of fungi, so-called mycobiota. The latter colonizes various parts of our organism, especially the intestine.
Candida albicans is a fungus naturally occurring in the human oral, vaginal, and digestive linings that is widespread in the population but is responsible for fatal opportunistic infections in immunocompromised patients. In particular, its pathogenicity is related to its ability to transform a harmless round yeast stage into a filamentous form that can invade the epithelial cells of the intestinal mucosa and lead to generalized infection.
Immunoglobulins A (IgA) are the antibodies most commonly excreted by the body. Secretory IgAs interact with commensal bacteria and play a central role in maintaining the diversity of our bacterial flora by preventing the overgrowth of invading pathogens. Moreno Sabater et al. postulated that IgA can also preserve the diversity of the mycobiota according to mechanisms that have yet to be defined. The influence of this antibody on the ecology of human mycobiota is still poorly understood. In particular, it was not known whether IgA deficiency, which affects 1 in 500 people in France, was related to intestinal fungal dysbiosis.
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