Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Nov 23:11:2443-2448.
doi: 10.2147/IDR.S179462. eCollection 2018.

A study on biofilm production and antifungal drug resistance among Candida species from vulvovaginal and bloodstream infections

Sanyuktha Tulasidas  1 , Pooja Rao  2 , Sevitha Bhat  2 , Radhakrishna Manipura  1
Affiliations

A study on biofilm production and antifungal drug resistance among Candida species from vulvovaginal and bloodstream infections

Sanyuktha Tulasidas et al. Infect Drug Resist. .

Abstract

Introduction: Candida species, one among the opportunistic fungi, has become a common pathogen causing vaginal thrush and nosocomial bloodstream infections (BSIs). This study aims to evaluate the prevalence and antifungal susceptibility of various Candida species and slime production by Candida species in BSIs and vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC).

Materials and methods: A total of 176 samples were collected for a period of 1 year. Anti-fungal susceptibility testing and biofilm production testing were performed by the Kirby-Bauer method and crystal violet assay, respectively.

Results: Out of 176 samples, 74 (42%) were from BSIs and 102 (58%) were from VVC. The biofilm production was comparatively high in blood isolates, 55 (74%), than cervical isolates, 45 (44%). Increase in the trends of non-albicans Candida (NAC) species was seen in our setup. Good susceptibility rates were seen among Candida species, 82.38% to voriconazole and an increasing resistance pattern of 26.13% to fluconazole.

Conclusion: Speciation of Candida becomes important as the prevalence of NAC is increasing. Antifungal susceptibility testing by the disk diffusion method is cost effective and should be adopted in routine testing as there is an increasing azole resistance, especially in invasive NAC infections. In this study, there was no correlation of antifungal drugs with the biofilm production.

Keywords: Candida; azoles; biofilm; bloodstream infections; vulvovaginal.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Biofilm formation by Candida species in BSIs and vaginal candidiasis. Abbreviation: BSIs, bloodstream infections.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comparison of biofilm formation in various Candida spp. Abbreviations: C. albicans, Candida albicans; C. glabrata, Candida glabrata; C. haemolunii, Candida haemolunii; C. krusei, Candida krusei; C. parapsilosis, Candida parapsilosis; C. tropicalis, Candida tropicalis.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Antifungal susceptibility pattern of azoles in BSI. Abbreviations: BSI, bloodstream infection; C. albicans, Candida albicans; C. glabrata, Candida glabrata; C. haemolunii, Candida haemolunii; C. krusei, Candida krusei; C. parapsilosis, Candida parapsilosis; C. tropicalis, Candida tropicalis.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Antifungal susceptibility pattern of azoles in VVC. Abbreviations: C. albicans, Candida albicans; C. glabrata, Candida glabrata; C. tropicalis, Candida tropicalis; VVC, vulvovaginal candidiasis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Serrano-Fujarte I, López-Romero E, Reyna-López GE, Martínez-Gámez MA, Vega-González A, Cuéllar-Cruz M. Influence of culture media on biofilm formation by Candida species and response of sessile cells to antifungals and oxidative stress. Biomed Res Int. 2015;2015:1–15. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Deorukhkar SC, Saini S, Mathew S. Non-albicans Candida Infection: an emerging threat. Interdiscip Perspect Infect Dis. 2014:1–8. ID 615958. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Harriott MM, Lilly EA, Rodriguez TE, Fidel PL, Noverr MC. Candida albicans forms biofilms on the vaginal mucosa. Microbiology. 2010;156(Pt 12):3635–3644. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chandra J, Mccormick TS, Imamura Y, Mukherjee PK, Ghannoum MA. Interaction of Candida albicans with adherent human peripheral blood mononuclear cells increases C. albicans biofilm formation and results in differential expression of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines. Infect Immun. 2007;75(5):2612–2620. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Shin JH, Kee SJ, Shin MG, et al. Biofilm production by isolates of Candida species recovered from nonneutropenic patients: comparison of bloodstream isolates with isolates from other sources. J Clin Microbiol. 2002;40(4):1244–1248. - PMC - PubMed