@article{article_349545, title={Evaluation Of Mueller-Hinton Agar For Germ Tube Test}, journal={Kocaeli Üniversitesi Sağlık Bilimleri Dergisi}, volume={1}, pages={30–34}, year={2015}, DOI={10.30934/kusbed.349545}, author={Er, Doğanhan Kadir and Uzuner, Hüseyin and Genç, Serpil and Keçeli, Sema}, keywords={Candida albicans,germ tüp testi,Mueller Hinton agar,non-albicans Candida}, abstract={<p style="text-align: justify; "> <span style="font-size: 12px;"> <b>Aims: </b>The aim of this study is to evaluate Mueller-Hinton Agar (MHA) as a simple medium for the determination of germ tube test (GTT). </span> </p> <p style="text-align: justify; "> <span style="font-size: 12px;"> <b>Methods: </b> A total of 86 <i>Candida </i>species isolated from different clinical specimens were included. All isolates were cultured onto Sabouraud Dextrose Agar (Salubris, Turkey) and incubated at 37°C for 24-48 hours. They were identified by VITEK MS (Biomérieux, France). For serum GTT, a single <i>Candida </i>colony was inoculated into 0.5 ml freshly obtained human serum. For MHA GTT, an inoculum of single colony was streaked by Dalmau technique onto MHA and covered by a sterile coverslip. After incubation at 37°C for 1.5 h and 3 h, all sera and MHA plates were examined using a light microscope. Serum GTT was accepted as gold standard method for the determination of sensitivity and specificity values. </span> </p> <p style="text-align: justify; "> <span style="font-size: 12px;"> <b>Results: </b>The identification results were as follows: 51 <i>Candida albicans </i>, one <i>C. dubliniensis </i>, 12 <i>C. parapsilosis </i>, 12 <i>C. glabrata </i>, 4 <i>C. kefyr </i>, 3 <i>C. tropicalis </i>, 3 <i>C. krusei </i>. Serum GTT was positive in 30 (58.8%) and 36 (70.6%) of <i>C. albicans </i> isolates at 1.5 h and 3 h, respectively. MHA GTT was positive in 21 (41.2%) and 40 (78.4%) of <i>C. albicans </i> isolates at 1.5 h and 3 h, respectively. All non-albicans species except <i>C. dubliniensis </i> were found as negative using both tests. Both GTTs were positive for <i>C. dubliniensis </i> at 1.5 h and 3 h. MHA sensitivity and specificity was determined as 58% and 92% at 1.5 h; 86% and 81% at 3 h, respectively. </span> </p> <p style="text-align: justify; "> <span style="font-size: 12px;"> <b>Conclusions: </b> MHA is safer and easier medium for GTT that may be used as alternative to serum GTT. The evaluation of GTT on MHA after 3 h incubation is recommended since it has higher sensitivity compared to 1.5 h. </span> <br> </p>}, number={1}, publisher={Kocaeli Üniversitesi}