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Electrophoretic karyotypes of Candida yeasts recurrently isolated from single patients
1Laboratory of Medical Mycology, Nagoya University School of Medicine, Aichi, Japan.
Abstract:
Candida strains were isolated repeatedly from single patients during recurrent episodes of Candida infection in a hospital, and their electrophoretic karyotypes were analyzed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis using CHEF system. When only C. albicans (in 6 patients) or C. glabrata (in 1 patient) were recurrently isolated, their karyotypes from each patient were almost identical to one another, suggesting that they carried single type of the yeast. When multiple species were recovered from single patients (6 cases), the karyotypes of the most frequently recovered yeast species were almost identical with respect to each patient. The electrophoretic karyotype analysis has been proved to be useful for epidemiological studies because the method can tell not only the species identification but also the differences among the strains of the same species.
Insights
Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis revealed that recurrent Candida infections in patients were often caused by identical yeast strains. This method is valuable for tracking yeast strains in hospital epidemiology.
Area of Science:
- Medical Microbiology
- Infectious Diseases
- Molecular Epidemiology
Background:
- Recurrent Candida infections pose a significant challenge in hospital settings.
- Understanding the genetic relatedness of causative Candida strains is crucial for infection control.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the genetic identity of Candida strains isolated from patients with recurrent infections.
- To assess the utility of electrophoretic karyotyping in tracking Candida strains during hospital-acquired infections.
Main Methods:
- Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) using the CHEF system was employed to analyze the electrophoretic karyotypes of Candida strains.
- Strains were isolated from patients experiencing recurrent episodes of Candida infection.
Main Results:
- In cases of single-species recurrence (Candida albicans or Candida glabrata), karyotypes from the same patient were nearly identical, indicating a persistent single yeast type.
- When multiple Candida species were isolated from a patient, the most frequently recovered species also exhibited highly similar karyotypes within that patient.
- Electrophoretic karyotype analysis demonstrated strain-specific discrimination within Candida species.
Conclusions:
- Electrophoretic karyotyping is a powerful tool for differentiating Candida strains and is effective for epidemiological surveillance in hospitals.
- Identical or highly similar Candida strains are frequently responsible for recurrent infections within individual patients, suggesting strain persistence.
- The method aids in distinguishing between different strains of the same species, crucial for outbreak investigations.