Microsatellite analysis of Candida isolates from recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis

Abstract

Candida albicans and Candida glabrata are the most common causative agents of both vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) and recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis (RVVC). Studying the population structure and genotype differentiation of Candida species that cause RVVC may lead to a significant improvement in clinical management. A total of 106 isolates were collected from 55 patients who were subdivided into three groups. Group I comprised 15 patients with RVVC (n550 isolates); group II comprised 16 patients, who had a history of at least two episodes of VVC in the last year (n532 isolates, two from each patient); and group III comprised 24 patients (n524 isolates) who had experienced a single episode of VVC in the previous 1 year period. C. albicans microsatellite markers CAI, CAIII and CAIV and C. glabrata RPM2, MTI and ERG3 microsatellites were amplified in a multiplex PCR. All isolates were subjected to population genetic analysis, which provided evidence that there is a predominantly clonal population structure of C. albicans in each group. However, recombination was detected to some degree in C. albicans isolates in group III. A genetic homogeneity between the different C. albicans groups was observed. Although, C. glabrata isolates showed an important genetic differentiation between group I and group III (F ST 50.207). Genotype analysis revealed that the dominant genotypes of C. glabrata and C. albicans strains were more prevalent in patients with RVVC. The frequent scenario for cases of recurrent infection in our study was strain replacement (53.3 %). In conclusion, the identification of recurrence-associated genotypes and a specific C. glabrata population structure in the RVVC group could be a significant marker for further investigations of virulence factors and RVVC management.

Distribution of <i>Candida</i> Species and Molecular Typing of <i>C. albicans</i> Isolates in a Mexico City Tertiary Care Hospital from 2011 to 2013

“…Analysis of the 225-12 and 402-12 isolate pairs showed that they have almost identical genotypes, confirming that only one strain was present in each of the patients during Candida infection. Moreover, the presence of isolates with minimal variation in all microsatellite loci suggests the occurrence of an adaptation to environmental conditions as part of a microevolution process, as previously described [34].…”

Microsatellite Length Polymorphism for DNA-Based Typing of Candida albicans Isolated from HIV Positive Patients in Tehran, Iran

“…Candida albicans isolates contain many loci, and accordingly, several markers have been developed for them (16,19). However, it seems that most of microsatellites in coding regions have low levels of heterozygosity, although the use of multiplex PCR and the evaluation of more loci increase the discriminatory power (20,21).…”

Novel Polymorphic Multilocus Microsatellite Markers to Distinguish Candida tropicalis Isolates

“…RAPD, is now considered by many to have suboptimal reproducibility and difficult to standardize (Table 3) [15]. In comparison, microsatellite analysis has the advantage of incorporating markers that evolve rapidly within the genome, offering good discriminatory power, reproducibility and portability, and is less costly [29, 30]. …”