| Summary: | <i>Candida albicans</i> is a commensal opportunistic yeast, which is capable of colonising many segments of the human digestive tract. Excessive <i>C. albicans</i> overgrowth in the gut is associated with multiple risk factors such as immunosuppression, antibiotic treatment associated with changes to the gut microbiota and digestive mucosa that support <i>C. albicans</i> translocation across the digestive intestinal barrier and haematogenous dissemination, leading to invasive fungal infections. The <i>C. albicans</i> cell wall contains mannoproteins, β-glucans, and chitin, which are known to trigger a wide range of host cell activities and to circulate in the blood during fungal infection. This review describes the role of <i>C. albicans</i> in colonic inflammation and how various receptors are involved in the immune defence against <i>C. albicans</i> with a special focus on the role of mannose-binding lectin (MBL) and TLRs in intestinal homeostasis and <i>C. albicans</i> sensing. This review highlights gut microbiota dysbiosis during colonic inflammation in a dextran sulphate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis murine model and the effect of fungal glycan fractions, in particular β-glucans and chitin, on the modification of the gut microbiota, as well as how these glycans modulate the immuno-inflammatory response of the host.
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