Abstract

Candida Lusitaniae. ISOLATION, IDENTIFICATION AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE

Cudberto Contreras Pérez, Patricia Gutiérrez García, Liz G. Beltrán Parra, Sergio Pastén Sánchez and José D. Méndez*

Abstract

Five isolates of Candida sp; three from blood cultures and two from food were studied and compared with reference strains. The studies included macroscopic and microscopic morphology, automated biochemical tests, susceptibility to itraconazole, as well as cytoplasmic protein profile analysis. The five isolates were identified as Candida lusitaniae. The isolates formed abundant pseudohyphae with lateral blastoconidia in short chains, they did not form a germinative tube and chlamyconidia. Isolates from blood cultures were highly susceptible to itraconazole (minimum inhibitory concentration 0.022 μg / mL). The analysis of cytoplasmic proteins revealed an intra-species similarity coefficient of 91 to 100% and separation coefficients with Candida albicans, and Candida parapsilosis of 63 and 73%, respectively. The morphological characteristics together with the specific biochemical tests are resources with high reliability to identify this opportunistic pathogen. The data show that Candida lusitaniae, Candida albicans and Candida parapsilosis are three species that have a clear taxonomic separation. The procedure followed in this work is accessible to basic mycology laboratories.

Keywords: Candida lusitaniae, Candida parapsilosis, Cytoplasmic proteins, Itraconazole.