In Vitro Antifungal Susceptibility Profiles of Candida albicans Complex Isolated from Patients with Respiratory Infections

Candidiasis, the main opportunistic fungal infection has been increased over the past decades. This study aimed to characterize C.albicans species complex (C.albicans, C.dubliniensis, and C.africana) isolated from patients with respiratory infections by molecular tools and in vitro antifungal susceptibilities by using broth microdilution method according to CLSI M27-A3 guidelines. Totally, 121 respiratory samples were collected from patients with respiratory infections. Of these, 83 strains were germ tube positive and green colonies on chromogenic media, so initially identified as C.albicans species complex and subsequently were classified as C.albicans (89.15%), C.dubliniensis (9.63%), and C.africana (1.2%) based on PCR-RFLP and amplification of hwp1 gene. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MICs) results showed that all tested isolates of C.albicans complex were highly susceptible to triazole drugs. However, caspofungin had highest activity against C.albicans, C.dubliniensis, and C.africana. Our findings indicated the variety of antifungal resistance of Candida strains in different areas. These results may increase the knowledge about the local distribution of the mentioned strains as well as their antifungal susceptibility pattern which play an important role in appropriate therapy