Assessment of the performance of CHROMagar Candida media in identification of candida strains

Abstract

Objective: The treatment of Candida infections differs according to Candida species. The identification by routine and conventional methods can take several days. For this reason, rapid diagnosis of Candida species is important for initiating an effective antifungal therapy.

Material and Method: Sixty one Candida strains included in the study were evaluated at 24th and 48th hours after they were cultivated on CHROMagar Candida medium and incubated under appropriate conditions in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations.

Results: When CHROMagar Candida medium and reference methods were compared in the study, it was found that CHROMagar Candida and referance method were  detected the same species in 36 of the 61 samples (40.9%). Candida species were produced in CHROMagar Candida medium in 25 samples (59.1%) but the identification of species could not be made.

Conclusion: The CHROMagar Candida medium  allows the discrimination of  Candida parapsilosis species as well as Candida albicans according to the germe tube test, but does not allow the discrimination of other  Candida species. It also has disadvantages of having problems due to different colors and high cost.

Keywords

• Candida species,rapid diagnosis,chromogenic medium

Candida suşlarının tanımlanmasında CHROMagar Candida besiyerinin performansının değerlendirilmesi

Abstract

Amaç: Candida enfeksiyonlarının tedavisi Candida türlerine göre farklılık göstermektedir. Rutin ve klasik yöntemlerle identifikasyon birkaç günü alabilmektedir. Bu nedenle, etkili antifungal tedavinin başlanabilmesi için Candida türlerinin hızlı tanısı önemlidir.

Gereç ve Yöntem: Çalışmaya dahil edilen  61 Candida suşu  CHROMagar Candida besiyerine ekilip üreticinin önerileri doğrultusunda uygun şartlarda inkübe edildikten sonra,  24. ve 48. saatlerde değerlendirildi.

Bulgular: Çalışmada CHROMagar Candida besiyeri ile referans yöntemler karşılaştırıldığında, CHROMagar Candida  ile 61 örneğin 36’sında (%40,9)  referans yöntemle aynı tür tayini saptanmıştır. Yirmi beş örnekte (%59,1) ise CHROMagar Candida  besiyerinde Candida türleri üremiş ancak tür tayini yapılamamıştır.

Sonuç: CHROMagar Candida besiyeri germ tüp testine göre Candida albicans‘ın yanısıra, Candida parapsilosis türlerinin ayrımına imkan sağlamasına rağmen, diğer Candida türlerin ayrımına imkan sağlamaması, farklı renkler nedeniyle sorunlar yaşanması ve maliyetinin yüksek olması dezavantajlarıdır.    

Keywords

• Candida türleri,hızlı tanı,kromojenik besiyeri

References

1. 1. Pfaller MA, Huston A, Coffmn S. Application of CHROMagar candida medium for rapid screening of clinical specimens for Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis, Candida krusei, and Candida (Torulopsis) glabrata. J Clin Microbiol 1996; 34: 56-61.
2. 2. Odds FC, Bernaerts R. CHROMagar Candida medium, a new differential isolation medium for presumptive identification of clinically important Candida species J Clin Microbiol 1994; 32: 1923-9.
3. 3. Beighton D, Ludford R, Clark DT,et al. Use of CHROMagar Candida medium for isolation of yeasts from dental samples. J Clin Microbiol 1995; 32: 3025-7.
4. 4. Kadri O, Ilkit M, Ates A, Bicer AT, Demirhindi H. Performance of Chromogenic Candida Agar and CHROMagar Candida in recovery and presumptive identifi cation of monofungal and polyfungal vaginal isolates. Medical Mycology February 2010, 48, 29–34.
5. 5. Bishop JA, Chase N, Lee R, Kurtzman CP, Merz WG. Production of white colonies on CHROMagar Candida Medium by members of the Candida glabrata clade and other species with overlapping phenotypic traits. J Clin Microbiol 2008: 3498–500.
6. 6. Murray PR, Baron EJ, Jorgensen JH, Pfaller MA, Yolken RH. (ed.). Manual of Clinical Microbiology, 8th ed. American Society for Microbiology, Washington, D.C. 2003.
7. 7. Schoofs A, Odds FC, Coleblunders R, Ieven M, Goosens H. Use of specialised isolation media for recognition and identification of Candida dubliniensis isolates from HIV-infected patients. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 1997; 16: 296-300.
8. 8. Kirkpatrick WR, Revankar SG, McAtee RK, et al. Detection of Candida dubliensis in oropharyngeal samples from Human Immunodeficiency Virusinfected patients in North America by primary CHROMagar Candida Medium screening and susceptibility testing of isolates. J Clin Microbiol 1998; 36: 3007-12.

9. 9. Sahand IH, Moragues MD, Eraso E, Villar-Vidal M, Quindós G, Pontón J. Supplementation of CHROMagar Candida medium with Pal's medium for rapid identification of Candida dubliniensis. J Clin Microbiol 2005; 43: 5768-70.
10. 10. Sivakumar VG, Shankar P, Nalina K, Menon T. Use of CHROMagar in the differentiation of common species of Candida. Mycopathologia 2009 Jan; 167: 47-9.