Genotyping and virulence factors of Candida albicans isolated from the oral cavity of kidney transplant recipients of two geographic regions of Brazil.
Keywords: Candida albicans, oral candidiasis, kidney transplant recipients, genotyping, virulence factors.
Candida albicans is a diploid yeast that in some circumstances may cause oral or oropharyngeal infections. This study aimed to determine the genotypes of 48 clinical isolates of C.albicans obtained from the oral cavity of kidney transplant patients from two distinct geographic regions of Brazil. In addition, we investigated four virulence factors in vitro: protease and phospholipase activities, morphogenesis and the ability to evade from polymorphonuclear neutrophils. The genotype A was the most prevalent (30 isolates; 62.5%), followed by genotype C (15 isolates; 31.5%) and genotype B (3 isolates; 6.25%). When Microsatellite technique with primer M13 was applied, 80% of the isolates from the South were placed within the same cluster. All Genotype C strains were grouped together within two different clusters. Genotype C was considered more proteolytic and resistant to PMNs attack than genotypes A and B, whereas genotype A had higher phospholipase activity. Strains isolated from the South of Brazil showed higher expression of proteinase activity and better ability to combat PMNs phagocytosis. We found a high rate of genotype C strains isolated from the oral cavity of this group of patients. This study characterized oral C.albicans strains isolated from kidney transplant recipients and will contribute for the better understanding of the pathogenesis of oral candidiasis.