IN VITRO STUDIES ON SELECTIVE VIRULENCE TRAITS OF FLUCONAZOLE RESISTANT CANDIDA SPECIES ISOLATED FROM CLINICAL CASES
Fungal infections are increasing very rapidly. Candida is a part of normal microflora of body and acts as an opportunistic pathogen. This organism is a leading agent associated with blood stream infections. The present study describes selective virulence attributes of fluconazole resistant Candida species in vitro. The isolates were obtained from National Culture Collection of Pathogenic Fungi at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India. All the isolates were confirmed upto species level by studying their phenotypic and biochemical characteristics and tested for their susceptibility to fluconazole by disc diffusion and micro broth dilution methods. Selective virulence attributes such as protease activity, phospholipase activity, hyphae formation, agar invasion, hemolytic and gelatinase activities and biofilm production ability of fluconazole resistant Candida species were studied in vitro. The isolates were distinguishable on the basis of their phenotypic traits studied. Majority of the isolates (51 out of 72 isolates examined) (70.83%) were sensitive to fluconazole, 6 were semi dose dependent and 15 exhibited resistance to fluconazole. Among the resistant species C. albicans and C. parapsilosis figured at the top followed by C. tropicalis, C. guillermondii and C. glabrata. The Protease activity was found in fluconazole resistant isolates, the phospholipase, hemolytic, agar invasion, hyphae formation, biofilm formation and adherence was maximum in C.albicans isolates. The present study would be useful in better characterization of Candida species from clinical samples and it may help not only in determining the correlation between the virulence and drug resistance but also in better understanding fungal pathogenesis.