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Review
. 2019 Jan 10;8(1):76.
doi: 10.3390/jcm8010076.

Candida sp. Infections in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus

Célia F Rodrigues  1   2 , Maria Elisa Rodrigues  3 , Mariana Henriques  4
Affiliations
Review

Candida sp. Infections in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus

Célia F Rodrigues et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

Candidiasis has increased substantially worldwide over recent decades and is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality, especially among critically ill patients. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disorder that predisposes individuals to fungal infections, including those related to Candida sp., due to a immunosuppressive effect on the patient. This review aims to discuss the latest studies regarding the occurrence of candidiasis on DM patients and the pathophysiology and etiology associated with these co-morbidities. A comprehensive review of the literature was undertaken. PubMed, Scopus, Elsevier's ScienceDirect, and Springer's SpringerLink databases were searched using well-defined search terms. Predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to classify relevant manuscripts. Results of the review show that DM patients have an increased susceptibility to Candida sp. infections which aggravates in the cases of uncontrolled hyperglycemia. The conclusion is that, for these patients, the hospitalization periods have increased and are commonly associated with the prolonged use of indwelling medical devices, which also increase the costs associated with disease management.

Keywords: Candida; biofilms; candidiasis; diabetes; hyperglycemia; infection; medical devices; metabolic disorder.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The founding sponsors had no role in the design of the study, in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data, in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Main diseases related to Candida sp. occurring with higher incidence in patients with diabetes mellitus type 1 or type 2 (adapted image from GraphicsRF on stock.adobe.com).
Figure 2
Figure 2
The estimated number of people with diabetes worldwide and per region in 2045 between 20–79 years in age, with a total of 629 million (source: International Diabetes Federation) (adapted image from GraphicsRF on stock.adobe.com).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Development of a Candida sp. biofilm in a surface.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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