BackgroundCandida albicans is a diploid yeast that in some circumstances may cause oral or oropharyngeal infections. Yeasts virulence factors contribute for both the maintenance of colonizing strains in addition to damage and cause tissue invasion, thus the establishment of infection occurs. The limited arsenal of antifungal drugs for the treatment of candidiasis turn the investigation of natural products mandatory for the discovery of new targets for antifungal drug development. Therefore, tropical countries emerge as important providers of natural products with potential antimicrobial activity. This study aimed to investigate morphogenesis and secretion of hydrolytic enzymes (phospholipase and proteinase) in the presence of the CE of Eugenia uniflora.MethodsThe isolates were tested for their ability to form hyphae in both solid and liquid media under three different conditions: YPD + 20% FBS, Spider medium and GlcNac and the ability to secrete phospholipase and proteinase in the presence of 2000 μg/mL of E. uniflora.ResultsThe CE of E. uniflora inhibited hypha formation in both liquid and solid media tested. It also impaired hydrolytic enzymes production.ConclusionsThis was the first study to describe the interaction of a natural product with the full expression of three different factors in C. albicans. E. uniflora may be an alternative therapeutic for oral candidiasis in the future.

BackgroundCandida albicans is a diploid yeast that in some circumstances may cause oral or oropharyngeal infections. This investigation aimed to study the prevalence of Candida spp. and to analyze the ABC genotypes of 76 clinical isolates of C. albicans obtained from the oral cavity of kidney transplant patients from two distinct geographic regions of Brazil.MethodsWe typed 48 strains with ABC genotyping and Microsatelitte using primer M13 and tested three virulence factors in vitro: phospholipase activity, morphogenesis and the ability to evade from polymorphonuclear neutrophils phagocytosis.ResultsC. albicans was the most prevalent species (86.4%), followed by C. tropicalis (4.5%). C. albicans genotype A was the most prevalent (58 isolates; 76.4%), followed by genotype C (15 isolates; 19.7%) and genotype B (3 isolates; 3.9%). When Microsatellite technique with primer M13 was applied, 80% of the isolates from the South were placed within the same cluster. The majority of Genotype C strains were grouped together within two different clusters. Genotype C was considered more resistant to PMNs attack than genotypes A and B. Strains isolated from the South of Brazil showed also better ability to combat PMNs phagocytosis.ConclusionsWe found a high rate of C. albicans genotype C strains isolated from the oral cavity of this group of patients. This study characterized oral C. albicans strains isolated from kidney transplant recipients and will contribute to a better understanding of the pathogenesis of oral candidiasis.