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Evidence of Fluconazole-Resistant Candida Species in Tortoises and Sea Turtles

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the antifungal susceptibility of Candida spp. recovered from tortoises (Chelonoidis spp.) and sea turtles (Chelonia mydas, Caretta caretta, Lepidochelys olivacea, Eretmochelys imbricata). For this purpose, material from the oral cavity and cloaca of 77 animals (60 tortoises and 17 sea turtles) was collected. The collected specimens were seeded on 2 % Sabouraud dextrose agar with chloramphenicol, and the identification was carried out by morphological and biochemical methods. Sixty-six isolates were recovered from tortoises, out of which 27 were C. tropicalis, 27 C. famata, 7 C. albicans, 4 C. guilliermondii and 1 C. intermedia, whereas 12 strains were obtained from sea turtles, which were identified as Candida parapsilosis (n = 4), Candida guilliermondii (n = 4), Candida tropicalis (n = 2), Candida albicans (n = 1) and Candida intermedia (n = 1). The minimum inhibitory concentrations for amphotericin B, itraconazole and fluconazole ranged from 0.03125 to 0.5, 0.03125 to >16 and 0.125 to >64, respectively. Overall, 19 azole-resistant strains (14 C. tropicalis and 5 C. albicans) were found. Thus, this study shows that Testudines carry azole-resistant Candida spp.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Grants from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq; Brazil; Processes 504189/2012-3; 307606/2013-9; 445670/2014-2).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate Program in Medical Microbiology, Department of Pathology and Legal Medicine, Specialized Medical Mycology Center, College of Medicine, Ceará Federal University, Rua Coronel Nunes de Melo, 1315 - Rodolfo Teófilo, Fortaleza, Ceará, CEP 60430-275, Brazil

    Raimunda Sâmia Nogueira Brilhante, Pedro Henrique de Aragão Rodrigues, Giovanna Barbosa Riello, Jonathas Sales de Oliveira, Débora de Souza Collares Maia Castelo-Branco, André Jalles Monteiro, Marcos Fábio Gadelha Rocha, Rossana de Aguiar Cordeiro, José Luciano Bezerra Moreira & José Júlio Costa Sidrim

  2. Graduate Program in Veterinary Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Ceará State University, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil

    Lucas Pereira de Alencar & Marcos Fábio Gadelha Rocha

  3. Faculty of Medicine, Christus University, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil

    Tereza de Jesus Pinheiro Gomes Bandeira

  4. Maurício de Nassau College, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil

    Joyce Fonteles Ribeiro

Authors
  1. Raimunda Sâmia Nogueira Brilhante
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  2. Pedro Henrique de Aragão Rodrigues
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  3. Lucas Pereira de Alencar
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  6. Jonathas Sales de Oliveira
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  7. Débora de Souza Collares Maia Castelo-Branco
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  11. Rossana de Aguiar Cordeiro
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  12. José Luciano Bezerra Moreira
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Correspondence to Raimunda Sâmia Nogueira Brilhante.

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Brilhante, R.S.N., de Aragão Rodrigues, P.H., de Alencar, L.P. et al. Evidence of Fluconazole-Resistant Candida Species in Tortoises and Sea Turtles. Mycopathologia 180, 421–426 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-015-9923-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-015-9923-0

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