The relationship between the acid and alkaline phosphatase activity and the adherence of Candida parapsilosis to human buccal epithelial cells

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Examination of potential virulence factors of Candida tropicalis clinical isolates from hospitalized patients

Candida tropicalis has been reported to be one of the Candida species which is most likely to cause bloodstream and urinary tract infections in hospitalized patients. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to characterize the virulence of C. tropicalis by assessing antifungal susceptibility and comparing the expression of several virulence factors. This study was conducted with seven isolates of C. tropicalis from urine and blood cultures and from central venous catheter. C. tropicalis ATCC 750 was used as reference strain. Yeasts adhered (2 h) to epithelial cells and silicone and 24 h biofilm biomass were determined by crystal violet staining. Pseudohyphae formation ability was determined after growth in fetal bovine serum. Enzymes production (hemolysins, proteases, phospholipases) was assessed by halo formation on agar plates. Susceptibility to antifungal agents was determined by E-test. Regarding adhesion, it can be highlighted that C. tropicalis strains adhered significantly more to epithelium than to silicone. Furthermore, all C. tropicalis strains were able to form biofilms and to express total hemolytic activity. However, protease was only produced by two isolates from urine and by the isolates from catheter and blood. Moreover, only one C. tropicalis (from catheter) was phospholipase positive. All isolates were susceptible to voriconazole, fluconazole and amphotericin B. Four strains were susceptible-dose dependent to itraconazole and one clinical isolate was found to be resistant

Relative cell surface hydrophobicity of Candida parapsilosis and Candida albicans.

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A new, semi-automated technique for quantification of Candida adherence to denture acrylic surfaces

Adherence of Candida species to various host surfaces is an important prerequisite for colonization and pathogenesis. Researchers have problems in quantifying candidal adherence to plastic surfaces (used for fabrication of prostheses) due to coaggregation of adherent yeasts and to the laborious, time-consuming method of microscopic quantification. We describe here, a semiautomated image analysis system which is superior to conventional visual light microscopic techniques of quantifying yeasts attached to solid substrates such as acrylic. The results demonstrated a significant positive correlation between the number of cells quantified by traditional light microscopy and the corresponding area obtained by the semi-automated image analysis system (r = 0.83, P < 0.02). The new system is simple, less laborious and is particularly useful when the adherent attributes of a large battery of yeasts are characterized.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

The relationship between the acid and alkaline phosphatase activity and the adherence of clinical isolates of Candida parapsilosis to human buccal epithelial cells

Candida parapsilosis is an emerging fungal pathogen implicated in many diseases, especially in compromised hosts. Candidal colonization and infection depends on the initial ability to adhere to host surfaces, which in turn depends upon the cell wall components and the allied structures of both the host and the fungus. Examination of a miscellaneous collection of 24 C parapsilosis isolates, from both superficial and deep infections, for their potential pathogenic traits displayed a relationship between the phosphatase activity measured with p-nitrophenol phosphate and adhesion of the yeasts to human buccal epithelial cells (BECs). Significant intraspecies differences were seen in both the alkaline and acid phosphatase activity as well as in their adhesion to BECs (p<0.0001). The acid phosphatase activity of the superficial isolates was significantly greater (152%) than that of the systemic isolates (p=0.0352). A highly significant positive correlation was also established between the yeast adhesion to BECs and both the acid (r=0.88, p<0.0001) and alkaline (r=0.9, p<0.0001) phosphatase activity. These relationships, described here for the first time, imply that phosphatases of Candida species may play a crucial role in potentiating their virulence.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Adhesion to denture acrylic surfaces and relative cell-surface hydrophobicity of Candida parapsilosis and Candida albicans

C. parapsilosis is an opportunistic emerging pathogen which together with C. albicans causes diseases in immunocompromised patients. Adhesion of Candida species to various surfaces is an important event in colonization and pathogenesis, and the relative cell-surface hydrophobicity (CSH) of the organism is a contributory physical force involved. Therefore, in vitro adhesion to acrylic surfaces and relative CSH of 24 isolates of C. parapsilosis and 10 isolates of C. albicans were studied. There was no significant difference in relative adhesion of C. parapsilosis isolates and C. albicans, although the former demonstrated a tendency for increased adhesion. There was significant intra-species variation in adhesion among isolates of C. parapsilosis (p=0.0001), but not C. albicans. In general, C. parapsilosis isolates demonstrated a two-fold greater relative CSH than C. albicans (p=0.0003). When the relative CSH of superficial and systemic isolates of C. parapsilosis were compared, the former showed a significantly higher (49.15%) relative CSH than their systemic counterparts (p<0.01). A highly significant positive correlation between adhesion and relative CSH of C. parapsilosis (p=0.74, p<0.0001) was also noted. Taken together, these data suggest that the attributes of adhesion and relative CSH of Candida species may contribute differentially in varying disease states of the human host, such as superficial and systemic Candida infections.link_to_subscribed_fulltex