Investigation of phospholipase activity of Candida species isolated from different clinical samples

Abstract

In this study, the phospholipase activity that was suggested to be important in the pathogenesis of Candida infections, has been investigated. A total of 109 Candida strains (80 Candida albicans, 10 C.tropicalis, 6 C.glabrata, 6 C.guilliermondii, 4 C.parapsilosis, 2 C.krusei, 1 C.kefyr) which were isolated from various clinical specimens (blood, cerebrospinal fluid, parasynthesis specimens, catheter samples, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, tracheal aspirate, liver abscess) have been included in the study. Phospholipase activities were evaluated by modified plate method. Phospholipase activity (Pz) was determined as the ratio of colony diameter to the diameter of precipitation zone with the colony. While 61.3% (49/80) of C.albicans strains were found to be positive for phospholipase activity, none of the non-albicans Candida isolates exhibited phospholipase activity. The mean Pz coefficient value of phospholipase secreting isolates was calculated as 0.805±0.08. There was no statistically significant difference between the phospholipase activity of the isolates according to their isolation sites (X2 =5.5; p=0.137).