MDR1 overexpression combined with ERG11 mutations induce high-level fluconazole resistance in Candida tropicalis clinical isolates.

BACKGROUND

Marked increases in fluconazole resistance in Candida tropicalis have been recently reported. In this study, the molecular mechanisms behind fluconazole resistance were investigated.

METHODS

Twenty-two C. tropicalis clinical isolates, including 12 fluconazole-resistant isolates and 10 fluconazole-susceptible isolates, were collected from a tertiary care teaching hospital in Beijing between 2013 and 2017. Antifungal susceptibility testing, multilocus sequence typing, ERG11 amplification and sequencing, quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (ERG11, UPC2, MDR1, and CDR1), and clinical data collection were performed for all C. tropicalis isolates.

RESULTS

Multilocus sequence typing revealed that the 10 fluconazole-susceptible isolates and 12 fluconazole-resistant isolates were divided into nine and seven diploid sequence types, respectively. Of the 12 patients with fluconazole-resistant isolates, six had been previously exposed to azole and four had a fatal outcome. Y132F and S154F amino acid substitutions in Erg11p were found in all fluconazole-resistant isolates except one. MDR1 gene overexpression was identified in fluconazole-resistant isolates. In particular, seven high-level fluconazole resistant isolates (minimum inhibitory concentration ≥ 128 mg/L) and three pan-azole resistant isolates were identified. CDR1, ERG11, and UPC2 gene expression levels in fluconazole-resistant isolates were not significantly different from the control isolates (P = 0.262, P = 0.598, P = 0.114, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides evidence that the combination of MDR1 gene overexpression and ERG11 missense mutations is responsible for high-level fluconazole resistance and pan-azole resistance in C. tropicalis clinical isolates. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study investigating the relationship between MDR1 gene overexpression and increased fluconazole resistance.