Candida identification: a journey from conventional to molecular methods in medical mycology

Abstract

The incidence of Candida infections have increased substantially in recent years due to aggressive use of immunosuppressants among patients. Use of broad-spectrum antibiotics and intravascular catheters in the intensive care unit have also attributed with high risks of candidiasis among immunocompromised patients. Among Candida species, C. albicans accounts for the majority of superficial and systemic infections, usually associated with high morbidity and mortality often caused due to increase in antimicrobial resistance and restricted number of antifungal drugs. Therefore, early detection of candidemia and correct identification of Candida species are indispensable pre-requisites for appropriate therapeutic intervention. Since blood culture based methods lack sensitivity, and species-specific identification by conventional method is time-consuming and often leads to misdiagnosis within closely related species, hence, molecular methods may provide alternative for accurate and rapid identification of Candida species. Although, several molecular approaches have been developed for accurate identification of Candida species but the internal transcribed spacer 1 and 2 (ITS1 and ITS2) regions of the rRNA gene are being used extensively in a variety of formats. Of note, ITS sequencing and PCR-RFLP analysis of ITS region seems to be promising as a rapid, easy, and cost-effective method for identification of Candida species. Here, we review a number of existing techniques ranging from conventional to molecular approaches currently in use for the identification of Candida species. Further, advantages and limitations of these methods are also discussed with respect to their discriminatory power, reproducibility, and ease of performance.

The Inhibitory Effect of Probiotic Bacteria against Drug - Resistant Candida Species Isolated from the Oral Cavity of the Elderly

“…Today, the case of successful treatments with antifungal agents is limited due to the wide resistance of various species of Candida (especially glabrata, tropicalis, krusei, and albicans) (4). Therefore, specialists are looking for effective compounds to control these infections.…”

Irreversible electropermeabilization of the human pathogen Candida albicans: an in-vitro experimental study

“…Depending on the nature and extent of a host's underlying condition, they can cause diseases ranging from commonly encountered superficial infections (primarily affecting oral and vaginal sites) to rare, life-threatening, hematogenously disseminated, invasive diseases. C. albicans is the predominant cause of invasive fungal infections in many countries (Odds 2010;Sardi et al 2013a, b;Alam et al 2014;Pappas 2006). From 2001-2010 the incidence of dermatomycosis caused by Candida yeasts increased in Lithuania (Paškevičius and Švedienė 2013).…”

Desenvolvimento de primers para identificação e diferenciação de espécies de Candida em secreção vaginal por PCR em tempo real (qPCR)

“…A demora no diagnóstico e a administração de terapia tripla, constituída por antibióticos (para bactérias gram-negativas e gram-positivas) e antifúngicos, antes mesmo da identificação do patógeno, contribui para o incremento dos custos hospitalares, demora no tratamento e aumento da resistência fúngica (YAPAR, 2014;BEN-AMI et al, 2012). O diagnóstico convencional de candidíases/candidemias inclui cultura de sangue, exame microscópico e identificação bioquímica (BOUCHARA et al, 1996;ALAM et al, 2014), sendo testes vagarosos e pouco precisos. Devido às limitações das técnicas convencionais para diferenciar as espécies, novas metodologias vêm surgindo.…”