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Differential Sensitivity of the Species of Candida parapsilosis Sensu Lato Complex Against Statins

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Abstract

Candida parapsilosis sensu stricto, Candida orthopsilosis and Candida metapsilosis are human fungal pathogens with clinical importance. The recently reclassified three closely related species have significant variation in virulence, clinical prevalence and susceptibility characteristics to different antifungal compounds. The aim of this study was to investigate the in vitro activity of atorvastatin and fluvastatin against C. metapsilosis, C. orthopsilosis and C. parapsilosis. Susceptibility tests showed that C. parapsilosis was the most sensitive while C. orthopsilosis was the least susceptible species to both drugs. On the basis of the differential sensitivity, we developed a simple, reliable and highly cost-effective plate assay to distinguish these closely related species. Applying this method, 54 isolates belonging to the C. parapsilosis sensu lato complex deposited in Szeged Microbial Collection could be sorted into the three species with 100 % probability.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Hungarian National Office for Research and Technology grant: TECH08-A1-IVDMDQ08. AG was supported in part by OTKA NF 84006 and by EMBO Installation Grant 1813. JSZ was supported by TÁMOP 4.2.4.A/2-11-1-2012-0001. This research was realized in the frames of TÁMOP 4.2.4. A/2-11-1-2012-0001 “National Excellence Program—Elaborating and operating an inland student and researcher personal support system convergence program.” The project was subsidized by the European Union and cofinanced by the European Social Fund. Authors are grateful to Dr. Oliver Bader, Dr. Ariana Tavanti and Dr. László Majoros for providing the clinical isolates of Candida species.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science and Informatics, University of Szeged, Közép fasor 52, 6726, Szeged, Hungary

    Judit Szenzenstein, Attila Gácser, Zsuzsanna Grózer, Zoltán Farkas, Csaba Vágvölgyi & Ilona Pfeiffer

  2. Faculty of Dentistry, University of Szeged, Tisza L. krt. 64, 6720, Szeged, Hungary

    Katalin Nagy

  3. Solvo Biotechnology, Szeged, Hungary

    János Márki-Zay

Authors
  1. Judit Szenzenstein
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  2. Attila Gácser
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  3. Zsuzsanna Grózer
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  4. Zoltán Farkas
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  5. Katalin Nagy
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  6. Csaba Vágvölgyi
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  7. János Márki-Zay
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  8. Ilona Pfeiffer
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Correspondence to Attila Gácser.

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Szenzenstein, J., Gácser, A., Grózer, Z. et al. Differential Sensitivity of the Species of Candida parapsilosis Sensu Lato Complex Against Statins. Mycopathologia 176, 211–217 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-013-9689-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-013-9689-1

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