Journal of Clinical Microbiology, February 1999, p. 321-326, Vol. 37, No. 2
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Department of Oral Medicine1 and Department of OCBS,2 Dental School, University of Maryland, and Department of Pathology, The Johns Hopkins University,3 Baltimore, Maryland
Received 23 July 1998/Returned for modification 9 October 1998/Accepted 31 October 1998
Although Candida albicans remains the fungal species most frequently isolated as an opportunistic oral pathogen, other yeast species are often identified in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-seropositive patients. Candida dubliniensis phenotypically resembles C. albicans in many respects, yet it can be identified and differentiated as a unique Candida species by its phenotypic and genetic profiles. The purpose of the present study was to prospectively test for the presence of C. dubliniensis among clinical isolates and to determine the clinical and demographic characteristics of patients harboring C. dubliniensis. Over a 90-day period, isolates from 724 patients that were presumptively identified as C. albicans were screened for C. dubliniensis by use of tests for germ tube and chlamydospore production, by detection of an inability to grow at 45°C, by colony color on CHROMagar Candida medium, and by the results of a sugar assimilation test with the API 20C AUX yeast identification system. Among 699 isolates retrieved from those specimens evaluated, 5 from 25 HIV-seropositive patients and 1 isolate from a patient whose HIV status was unknown were shown to be consistent by phenotyping and by electrophoretic karyotyping with the European reference strain of C. dubliniensis. One of the C. dubliniensis isolates had dose-dependent susceptibility to fluconazole (MIC, 16 µg/ml). These results confirm the presence of this interesting species in the United States and support the need for further investigations into the prevalence and pathogenesis of C. dubliniensis.
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