[SSCP analysis (ITS2, ERG11) in clinical Candida isolates from oral cavity in oncology patients]

Antifungal prophylactic therapy in oncology patients has favors the emergence of diverse species of Candida. In the present study 32 clinic isolates of Candida spp., recovered from oral cavity, were evaluated testing their susceptibility to diverse antifungals by means of the microdilution method according with the document M-27A of the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS). The response to antifungals was then compared with SSCP patterns of the gene ERG11, hoping to find mutations in this gene linked to resistance to the azole antifungals from samples of clinical origin. Three SSCP genotypes with diverse response to different antifungals were found. This study suggested that a link of mutations in the ERG11 gene of Candida albicans and antifungal resistance was not supported by this data. In addition, the isolates were also classified by conventional methods and their genetic diversity evaluated by means of SSCP analysis and evaluation of their ITS2 regions, identifying eight SSCP genotypes. This technique has the potential to be a more sensitive method for taxonomic classification.