Genotypic variation and antifungal susceptibilities of Candida pelliculosa clinical isolates

At the Istituto Ricovero Cura Carattere Scientifico, Ospedale Maggiore di Milano, Italy, Candida pelliculosa accounted for 3.3 and 4.4 % of all Candida species other than Candida albicans collected during 1996 and 1998, respectively. Genetic variability was investigated by electrophoretic karyotyping and inter-repeat PCR, and the susceptibility to five antifungal agents of 46 strains isolated from 37 patients during these 2 years was determined. Combination of the two typing methods yielded 14 different DNA types. Although the majority of DNA types were randomly distributed among different units, one DNA type was significantly more common in patients hospitalized in a given unit compared with those from other wards (P=0.034), whereas another DNA type was more frequently isolated in patients hospitalized during 1996 than in those hospitalized during 1998 (P=0.002). Fluconazole, itraconazole and posaconazole MIC90 values were 16, 1 and 4 microg ml-1, respectively. All isolates but three were susceptible in vitro to flucytosine. All isolates were susceptible in vitro to amphotericin B. These data suggest that there are possible relationships among strains of C. pelliculosa, wards and time of isolation. Amphotericin B seems to be the optimal drug therapy in infections due to this yeast species.