Mast cells a new player in the fungal diseases field

What is it about?

The paper shows how the regulation of the innate immune system is orchestrated by mast cells, a cell type typically associated with allergy and asthma, in order to create an immune response against the fungus Candida albicans . Getting to grip with how the innate immune system senses the entry of fungal pathogens in the body offers major opportunities for global health

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Why is it important?

While most individuals are infected with Candida albicans since birth, the infection causes serious illness or even death, particularly among those with a weakened immune system. An exception is healthy women suffering from vulvovaginal candidiasis. Women living with candidiasis have a major disturbance in their quality of life. Candida vaginitis is characterized by itching, burning, pain, and redness of the vulva and vaginal mucosa and regularly accompanied by vaginal discharge. Often the situation is recurrent or even chronical; however, the research effort to tackle fungal candidiasis is scarce leaving patients to dependent on old therapies.

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