Prevalence and Antifungal Susceptibility Profile of Clinically Relevant Species in Postmenopausal Women with Diabetes.

The incidence of diabetes mellitus has increased in Saudi Arabia, which has raised the risk of vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC). This study highlights the prevalence and antifungal susceptibility of species among postmenopausal women with diabetes with symptoms of VVC in Taif, a city in Saudi Arabia. Several diagnostic tools were used to differentiate the yeast isolates, including microscopic examination, culture morphology on CHROM agar, further confirmation with the VITEK 2 system, and ITS1 and ITS4 region sequencing. Antifungal susceptibility of the selected species was determined using the VITEK 2 system (bioMérieux Inc., USA). Out of the 550 high vaginal swabs investigated, 86 specimens were species positive (15.6%) with a significant difference according to age; the positivity in the 45-50 years' age group (12%) was higher than that in the 51-55 years' age group (3.6%). was the most common causative agent in 51 samples (59.3%), followed by in 21 samples (24.41%) and in 14 samples (16.27%), with no significant differences between the age groups. Three isolates, including two and one , exhibited resistance against all the tested antifungal agents. CHROM agar and VITEK 2 were accurate phenotypic tools to identify species with 100% sensitivity and specificity and were consistent with the phylogenetic characterization. The data emphasized the importance of identifying species and their antifungal susceptibility among postmenopausal women with diabetes, highlighting the potential risk posed by diabetes in this age group.