Intestinal candidiasis, also known as intestinal candidiasis, is most commonly caused by yeasts of the genus Candida. These organisms are most often found as individual small cells of approximately 5 µm.
The Candida genus includes many species, but only nine are recognised as pathogenic to humans. They cause diseases called candidiasis or candidiasis. These are mostly endogenous infections, as yeasts of the Candida genus, especially Candida albicans, are part of the natural microflora of the gastrointestinal tract, skin and vagina. Reduced immunity can lead to the development of more invasive forms of the aforementioned yeast species and cause candidiasis. On the other hand, poor nutrition, sleep deprivation, alcohol and nicotine abuse, excessive stress levels, or disorders of the gastrointestinal microflora, favour the overgrowth of Candida albicans in the digestive tract.
Gastrointestinal candidiasis is divided into:
- oral candidiasis,
- oesophageal candidiasis,
- gastric and duodenal candidiasis,
- intestinal candidiasis.
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The latter type of candidiasis is one of the most common infectious diseases caused by Candida albicans. The pathogenic factors in this case are yeast-derived adhesins - proteins that enable cells to adhere to each other. The pathogenicity of the fungus in question is also increased due to antigenic similarity to host cells and with an increase in its ability to form particularly invasive pseudomycetous forms.
