Department of Mycology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran 14115-331, Iran.
Department of Mycology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran 14115-331, Iran.
J Mycol Med. 2018 Sep;28(3):437-442. doi: 10.1016/j.mycmed.2018.04.009. Epub 2018 May 18.
Candida species are the commensal organisms of human and animal mucosa that cause a wide range of debilitating diseases in immunocompromised patients and other susceptible individuals. The present study aimed to investigate the ability of clinical isolates of various Candida species to produce proteinase and phospholipase, hydrophobicity and biofilm forming ability that assumed to have a vital role in Candida pathogenicity. Eighty-four Candida strains belonged to Candida albicans (44.1%), C. glabrata (5.9%), C. guilliermondii (5.9%), C. krusei (10.8%), C. parapsilosis (26.2%), and C. tropicalis (7.1%) were examined for proteinase and phospholipase production, cell surface hydrophobicity and biofilm forming ability. The production of proteinase and phospholipase was detected in 81 (96.4%) and 79 (94.1%) of the strains, respectively. C. albicans showed the highest proteinase and phospholipase activity (mean Pz values of 0.42±0.25 and 0.72±0.28) and biofilm formation ability (0.66±0.22). C. parapsilosis had the highest hydrophobicity (42.97±16.1), which showed a good correlation with biofilm formation ability. A considerable percentage of non-albicans Candida strains produced significant amounts of proteinase and phospholipase with a good ability of biofilm formation in vitro. Taken together, our results further substantiated that enzymatic activity, hydrophobicity and the ability for biofilm formation are important virulence factors which may be account for pathogenicity of various Candida species distributed in albicans and non-albicans groups.
念珠菌属物种是人类和动物黏膜的共生体，它们会导致免疫功能低下的患者和其他易感个体患上广泛的衰弱性疾病。本研究旨在研究各种念珠菌临床分离株产生蛋白酶和磷脂酶、疏水性和生物膜形成能力的能力，这些能力被认为在念珠菌致病性中起着至关重要的作用。对 84 株念珠菌菌株进行了检测，这些菌株分别属于白色念珠菌（44.1%）、光滑念珠菌（5.9%）、近平滑念珠菌（5.9%）、克柔念珠菌（10.8%）、近平滑念珠菌（26.2%）和热带念珠菌（7.1%），以检测其蛋白酶和磷脂酶的产生、细胞表面疏水性和生物膜形成能力。结果显示，81 株（96.4%）和 79 株（94.1%）菌株分别产生了蛋白酶和磷脂酶。白色念珠菌表现出最高的蛋白酶和磷脂酶活性（平均 Pz 值分别为 0.42±0.25 和 0.72±0.28）和生物膜形成能力（0.66±0.22）。近平滑念珠菌的疏水性最高（42.97±16.1），与生物膜形成能力呈良好相关性。相当比例的非白色念珠菌念珠菌菌株在体外具有产生大量蛋白酶和磷脂酶的能力，并且具有良好的生物膜形成能力。综上所述，我们的研究结果进一步证实，酶活性、疏水性和生物膜形成能力是重要的毒力因子，可能是各种念珠菌属物种在白色念珠菌和非白色念珠菌组中分布的致病性的原因。
