Candida albicans and selenium

Med Hypotheses. 2003 Feb;60(2):188-9. doi: 10.1016/s0306-9877(02)00355-9.

Abstract

Although low selenium levels have been recorded in infants, no specific human disorder has been linked to low selenium status. The incidence of thrush, the common enteric fungal infection caused by Candida albicans, has increased markedly with antibiotic therapy and research has provided evidence that its colonization leads to competition for Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) in the host. Furthermore it is now known that ubiquinones are essential in heart muscle for oxidative phosphorylation in the mitochondrial respiratory chain and considered that glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx) in the mitochondria protects ubiquinone from oxidation.

MeSH terms

  • Candida albicans / pathogenicity*
  • Coenzymes
  • Glutathione Peroxidase / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Mitochondria / metabolism
  • Oxygen / metabolism
  • Phosphorylation
  • Selenium / metabolism*
  • Ubiquinone / analogs & derivatives*
  • Ubiquinone / metabolism

Substances

  • Coenzymes
  • Ubiquinone
  • Glutathione Peroxidase
  • coenzyme Q10
  • Selenium
  • Oxygen