Antifungal resistance profile and enzymatic activity of Candida species recovered from human and animal samples

Ei Nweze,Ie Mba

doi:10.4314/br.v17i1.4

Abstract

Candida is currently the most implicated pathogenic fungal species recognized as the major cause of a variety of human infections all over the world. This study investigated species distribution, enzymatic activities, and antifungal resistance profiles of human and animal Candida species. Clinical Candida species (n=220) were isolated from urine, high vaginal swab (HVS) and blood while Candida species (n=128) were isolated from rectal swab, ear swab, blood, feces, and milk in animals: goat, sheep, cattle, pig and chicken. The identification of the species was performed using standard methods. Enzymatic activity was screened using plate methods. Susceptibility testing was carried out using disk diffusion and broth microdilution methods. A statistically significant difference (P=0.031) was observed in the distribution of Candida spp. recovered from humans and animals. The Pz values of human Candida species for proteinase, hemolysin, lipase and phospholipase were 0.65±0.97, 0.61±0.81, 0.59±0.47 and 0.76±0.74 respectively while that of Candida species recovered from animal were 0.67±0.13, 0.61±0.95, 0.62±0.67 and 0.69±0.70 respectively. No statistically significant difference (P>0.05) in the in vitro enzymatic activity was observed between the two groups. High azole-resistance rate was observed. Resistance was higher among human Candida isolates compared to animal isolates although the difference was not considered statistically significant (p = 0.519). Our findings suggest that the enzymatic activity (virulence potential) and resistance patterns are similar in the two groups investigated. This study underscores the importance of animals especially pets and their products as potential sources/reservoirs of pathogenic and multi-azole resistant Candida species in Nigeria.

Highlights

Candidiasis is considered the third to fourth most frequent nosocomial infection in the US and worldwide, behind bacterial infection caused by Clostridium difficile, Neisseria gonorrhea and Enterobacteriaceae (Lamoth et al, 2018)
Among animal isolates (n=128), C. albicans account for 41(32%) while non-albicans account for 87(68%)
C. parapsilosis was the most prevalent, accounting for 25 (19.5%) of the entire animal samples followed by C. glabrata, 18 (14.1%) (Table 2)

Summary

Introduction

Candidiasis is considered the third to fourth most frequent nosocomial infection in the US and worldwide, behind bacterial infection caused by Clostridium difficile, Neisseria gonorrhea and Enterobacteriaceae (Lamoth et al, 2018). The resistance of Candida species to antifungal drugs especially the azoles are a public health concern. The azoles are widely used because of their few side effects and easy oral bioavailability They are fungistatic, meaning that they do not kill the fungal cells, rather they merely stop it from growing. The downside to this is that it gives the organism time to develop resistance. Some Candida species have natural resistance even without prior exposure to antifungals agents, it is possible and common for strains that are initially susceptible to develop resistance. There have been some insinuations that animals are source of resistant Candida species (Brilhante et al, 2013)

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