Experimental rat vaginal infection with Candida parapsilosis.

The experimental vaginopathic potential of Candida parapsilosis was determined in ovariectomized rats maintained under pseudoestrus by estrogen administrations. Of the 3 strains of C. parapsilosis tested, that isolated from the vagina of a woman affected by vulvovaginal candidosis gave a prolonged and sustained experimental vaginitis, not different in extent and duration from that caused by a vaginal isolate of C. albicans from a vaginitis patient. The other two isolates of C. parapsilosis (one from the vagina of an asymptomatic subject and another from soil) were unable to infect rat vagina. Microscopic observations of PAS-stained vaginal smears from rats infected with the vaginopathic isolate of C. parapsilosis showed pronounced adherence of yeasts to exfoliated cells. In addition, this isolate of C. parapsilosis produced an elevated quantity of acid proteinase in vitro.