Antifungal susceptibility and virulence factors of Candida spp. isolated from the genital tract of outpatients

Abstract

The vaginal yeast infections are one of the most widespread infection diseases among women. The present study is focused on the taxonomic composition, antifungal resistance and some virulence factors of Candida strains isolated from samples of outpatients. During one year period from April 2016 to March 2017 the 97 Candida spp. strains were collected from vaginal, cervical and urethral secrets of outpatients at IMDL “Chronolab” Plovdiv. The majority of isolates were identified as C. albicans (84%), followed by Candida glabrata (7%), Candida krusei (4%), Candida parapsilosis (3%) and Candida tropicalis (2%) and the most affected age group is women between 21 and 40 years old. Antifungal resistance was low and mainly associated with C. glabrata, with total susceptibility to the tested antifungal drugs over 95%. Analysis of the hydrolytic enzyme activities and the biofilm formation abilities showed that only 8% of the strains produced gelatinase and phospholipase, 6% produced caseinase and 5% esterase. Seven of the tested Candida strains (7.2%) formed stable biofilm after 24 h cultivation in Sabouraud dextrose broth supplemented with 6% glucose. This study revealed no significant correlation between the antifungal susceptibility and the studied virulence factors of Candida spp. isolates from the genital tract of outpatients.