Torulopsis glabrata
. [Descriptions of Fungi and Bacteria].
Authors: UK, CAB International  , Davis C. 
Published: July 2021

A description is provided for
Torulopsis glabrata
. Information is included on the disease caused by the organism, its transmission, geographical distribution, and hosts. DISEASE:
Torulopsis glabrata
is one of the more common yeast species to be associated with fungal infections in humans although its role as a pathogen has not yet been established. It has been implicated as a cause of both superficial and systemic infections. Meunier-Carpenter
et al. (Am. J. Med
71: 363-370, 1981) isolated
Torulopsis glabrata
from the blood cultures of 22 from a total of 110 cancer patients with fungal septicaemia (
Candida albicans
and
C. tropicalis
were isolated from 40 and 25 of those patients, respectively). Although 19 of the patients from whom
T. glabrata
was isolated died, autopsy results showed this organism to be less invasive than the other two species. In an analysis of 247 human yeast isolates
Torulopsis glabrata
was found to be the second commonest yeast isolated overall (Mackenzie,
Sabouraudia
1: 8-32, 1961). In this study it was the most commonly isolated yeast from urine (representing 5 from a total of 17 isolates) and also represented a significant proportion of isolates from sputum (15 from a total of 120 isolates). Similar results were obtained in a study by Stenderup
et al. (Acta Pathol
.
Microbiol. Scand
. 54: 462-472, 1962). In a major review of the literature Odds (1979) found
T. glabrata
to be the second most commonly reported isolate from urine (representing 21.0% of cases) and also from vaginal swabs. It is interesting that vaginal isolates of
T. glabrata
are apparently more common in healthy women than in women with vaginitis. Since this corresponds with an increasing incidence of
Candida albicans
it implies that
T. glabrata
may be more important as part of the commensal flora and less able to cause overgrowth or infection. Odds also noted the absence of reports of clinical isolates of the organism from Asia or South America but stated that this may be due to reporting or identification differences rather than actual differences in human yeast flora.
Torulopsis glabrata
has also been associated with endophthalmitis, oesophagitis and has been isolated from the oral cavity and faeces of humans. In a study of veterinary isolates
Torulopsis glabrata
was found to be the most commonly isolated yeast from cattle and the second most common from pigs and dogs (Chengappa
et al., J. Clin. Microbiol
. 19: 427-428, 1984). It has been associated with several cases of bovine abortion and has also been isolated from cases of endocarditis and pneumonia in cattle. Pathogenicity experiments with laboratory animals have shown
Torulopsis glabrata
to cause disease only in compromised hosts. Gastrointestinal overgrowth with subsequent dissemination to visceral organs has been demonstrated in antibiotic treated mice but not in untreated mice (Kennedy
et al., Sabouraudia
21: 27-33, 1983). In an earlier study with cortison treated mice Hasenclever
et al.
demonstrated progressive kidney disease with a high fatality rate following intravenous inoculation of
T. glabrata (Sabouraudia
2: 87-95, 1962). Similar treatment of normal mice produced no disease although the organisms survived in the tissue for up to 8 weeks and produced small focal lesions.
In vitro
studies with living porcine blood vessels showed that
T. glabrata
adhered to the endothelium but, in contrast to similar experiments with
Candida albicans
and
C. tropicalis
, there was no tissue invasion (Klotz
et al., Infect. Immun
. 42: 374-394, 1983). GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION: Africa (Morocco, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tunisia, Zaire); Asia (Japan, Singapore, Thailand), Australasia and Oceania (Fiji, New Zealand); Europe (many countries); North America (Canada, Mexico, USA); South America (Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela).