Roles of Phospholipase, Esterase and Slime Activities of Candida albicans Strains in Infection-Colonisation Differentiation
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Objective: This study investigated slime factor, phospholipase and esterase activities of C. albicans strains isolated as the infectious agent from healthy individuals, their effectiveness as virulence factors and interactions between each other. For this purpose, virulence factors of 50 C. albicans strains isolated from specimens as infectious agent (infection group) and 50 C. albicans isolates obtained from oral smears of the control group (control group) were analyzed and roles of virulence factors in differentiation of colonisation and infection were investigated. Material and Methods: C. albicans ATCC 10039 and 50 C. albicans strains isolated from clinical specimes of patients who were treated in various clinics of our hospital were used as reference strains. The strains isolated from sterile body sites and from clinical specimens containing pseuduhyphe on direct examination were considered as infectious agent and were identified as C. albicans by germ tube test and chlamidospore formation. Yolc sac agar medium was used to detect phospholipase activity, Tween 80 agar medium was used to detect esterase activity and Kongo red brain-heart infusion agar medium was used to detect slime activity. Results: There was no significant difference in terms of slime, phospholipase and esterase activities of C. albicans strains isolated from patients compared to controls (p=0.357, p=0.842, p=0.841). Consistency analysis between virulence factors revealed no significant difference in the patient group. In the other hand, in the control group, esterase/phospholipase coexistence consistency was significant (K value=+0.35, p=0.001). Conclusion: In conclusion, we suggest that many virulence factors of C. albicans have important roles in the development of C. albicans-related infections.