Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of Clinical Microbiology logoLink to Journal of Clinical Microbiology
. 1996 Jul;34(7):1856–1858. doi: 10.1128/jcm.34.7.1856-1858.1996

Strain variation among and antifungal susceptibilities of isolates of Candida krusei.

Y F Berrouane 1, R J Hollis 1, M A Pfaller 1
PMCID: PMC229137  PMID: 8784612

Abstract

Candida krusei is an emerging pathogen that is well known for its propensity to develop resistance to fluconazole and other azoles. Despite the potential clinical significance of C. krusei, little is known of its epidemiology and genetic diversity as defined by the newer DNA-based typing methods. We investigated the genotypic diversity and antifungal susceptibility of 67 clinical isolates from 44 patients and 5 health care workers from six different medical centers. Strain delineation was performed by restriction endonuclease analysis of genomic DNA (REAG) with the restriction enzyme HinfI followed by conventional electrophoresis. The susceptibility of the isolates to the antifungal agents amphotericin B, flucytosine, fluconazole, and itraconazole was determined by methods recommended by the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards. The MICs at which 90% of the isolates were inhibited ranged from 1.0 microgram/ml for itraconazole to 64 micrograms/ml for fluconazole. In general, isolates from a given patient, or epidemiologically related isolates from a single institution, were identical by molecular typing methods. Epidemiologically unrelated isolates were distinctly different by the REAG typing method employed. These data document the genetic diversity and antifungal susceptibility of clinical isolates of C. krusei.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (261.0 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Carlotti A., Grillot R., Couble A., Villard J. Typing of Candida krusei clinical isolates by restriction endonuclease analysis and hybridization with CkF1,2 DNA probe. J Clin Microbiol. 1994 Jul;32(7):1691–1699. doi: 10.1128/jcm.32.7.1691-1699.1994. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Goldman M., Pottage J. C., Jr, Weaver D. C. Candida krusei fungemia. Report of 4 cases and review of the literature. Medicine (Baltimore) 1993 May;72(3):143–150. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Iwen P. C., Kelly D. M., Reed E. C., Hinrichs S. H. Invasive infection due to Candida krusei in immunocompromised patients not treated with fluconazole. Clin Infect Dis. 1995 Feb;20(2):342–347. doi: 10.1093/clinids/20.2.342. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. McQuillen D. P., Zingman B. S., Meunier F., Levitz S. M. Invasive infections due to Candida krusei: report of ten cases of fungemia that include three cases of endophthalmitis. Clin Infect Dis. 1992 Feb;14(2):472–478. doi: 10.1093/clinids/14.2.472. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Merz W. G., Karp J. E., Schron D., Saral R. Increased incidence of fungemia caused by Candida krusei. J Clin Microbiol. 1986 Oct;24(4):581–584. doi: 10.1128/jcm.24.4.581-584.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Pfaller M. A., Bale M., Buschelman B., Lancaster M., Espinel-Ingroff A., Rex J. H., Rinaldi M. G., Cooper C. R., McGinnis M. R. Quality control guidelines for National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards recommended broth macrodilution testing of amphotericin B, fluconazole, and flucytosine. J Clin Microbiol. 1995 May;33(5):1104–1107. doi: 10.1128/jcm.33.5.1104-1107.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Pfaller M. A., Barry A. L. In vitro susceptibilities of clinical yeast isolates to three antifungal agents determined by the microdilution method. Mycopathologia. 1995;130(1):3–9. doi: 10.1007/BF01104343. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Pfaller M. A., Grant C., Morthland V., Rhine-Chalberg J. Comparative evaluation of alternative methods for broth dilution susceptibility testing of fluconazole against Candida albicans. J Clin Microbiol. 1994 Feb;32(2):506–509. doi: 10.1128/jcm.32.2.506-509.1994. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Pfaller M. A., Messer S. A., Coffmann S. Comparison of visual and spectrophotometric methods of MIC endpoint determinations by using broth microdilution methods to test five antifungal agents, including the new triazole D0870. J Clin Microbiol. 1995 May;33(5):1094–1097. doi: 10.1128/jcm.33.5.1094-1097.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Pfaller M. A., Messer S. A., Hollis R. J. Strain delineation and antifungal susceptibilities of epidemiologically related and unrelated isolates of Candida lusitaniae. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 1994 Nov;20(3):127–133. doi: 10.1016/0732-8893(94)90106-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Pfaller M. A., Messer S. A., Hollis R. J. Variations in DNA subtype, antifungal susceptibility, and slime production among clinical isolates of Candida parapsilosis. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 1995 Jan;21(1):9–14. doi: 10.1016/0732-8893(94)00114-c. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Rex J. H., Pfaller M. A., Barry A. L., Nelson P. W., Webb C. D. Antifungal susceptibility testing of isolates from a randomized, multicenter trial of fluconazole versus amphotericin B as treatment of nonneutropenic patients with candidemia. NIAID Mycoses Study Group and the Candidemia Study Group. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1995 Jan;39(1):40–44. doi: 10.1128/aac.39.1.40. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Tenover F. C., Arbeit R. D., Goering R. V., Mickelsen P. A., Murray B. E., Persing D. H., Swaminathan B. Interpreting chromosomal DNA restriction patterns produced by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis: criteria for bacterial strain typing. J Clin Microbiol. 1995 Sep;33(9):2233–2239. doi: 10.1128/jcm.33.9.2233-2239.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Voss A., Pfaller M. A., Hollis R. J., Rhine-Chalberg J., Doebbeling B. N. Investigation of Candida albicans transmission in a surgical intensive care unit cluster by using genomic DNA typing methods. J Clin Microbiol. 1995 Mar;33(3):576–580. doi: 10.1128/jcm.33.3.576-580.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Wingard J. R. Importance of Candida species other than C. albicans as pathogens in oncology patients. Clin Infect Dis. 1995 Jan;20(1):115–125. doi: 10.1093/clinids/20.1.115. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Wingard J. R., Merz W. G., Rinaldi M. G., Johnson T. R., Karp J. E., Saral R. Increase in Candida krusei infection among patients with bone marrow transplantation and neutropenia treated prophylactically with fluconazole. N Engl J Med. 1991 Oct 31;325(18):1274–1277. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199110313251803. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Clinical Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES