ISSN: 0973-7510

E-ISSN: 2581-690X

Research Article | Open Access
Hemamalini Mohanraj1 , V.M. Vinodhini2 and Leela Kakithakara Vajravelu1
1Department of Microbiology, SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, Chengalpattu District – 603203, Tamilnadu, India.
2Department of Biochemistry, SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, Chengalpattu District – 603203, Tamilnadu, India.
Article Number: 8383 | © The Author(s). 2023
J Pure Appl Microbiol. 2023;17(2):982-992. https://doi.org/10.22207/JPAM.17.2.27
Received: 26 December 2022 | Accepted: 04 April 2023 | Published online: 10 May 2023
Issue online: June 2023
Abstract

Candida tropicalis is the fourth main infective agent of Candida species in several developing nations and leads to the greatest fatality rate among the non-albicans Candida (NAC) species that cause candidemia. Seventy clinically known Candida isolates are isolated in positively flagged blood samples from BacT/ALERT 3D from various wards. Virulence factors like hemolysin production, coagulase activity, phospholipase activity, and biofilm formation were studied and antifungal susceptibility testing was and Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) values were interpreted. Of the total 70 clinical Candida isolates, the most predominant organism isolated was found to be C. tropicalis 27 (38.57%) which is succeeded by 19 (27.14%) C. albicans, 13 (18.57%) C. parapsilosis, 6 (8.57%) C. glabrata, and 5 (7.14%) C. krusei respectively. Among the70 Candida isolates, 49 (70%) showed hemolysin production, 43 (61.42%) isolates demonstrated phospholipase activity, 34 (48.57%) showed coagulase activity and 55 (78.57%) isolates showed biofilm production by crystal violet assay. A high level of Fluconazole resistance has been observed in 23 (32.85%) Candida isolates in comparison with other antimicrobials utilized in this study. The higher MIC value of: ≥ 64 µg/mL Fluconazole was shown by 4 (57.14%) isolates of C. tropicalis by broth microdilution method. The interpretation of various virulence factors and antifungal drug resistance were seen mostly among NAC species, thus hence signifying its pivotal role in immunocompromised individual treatment.

Keywords

Candida tropicalis, Candidemia, Virulence Factors, Antifungal Drug Resistance

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© The Author(s) 2023. Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License which permits unrestricted use, sharing, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.