Genotype distribution of Candida albicans strains associated with different conditions of vulvovaginal candidiasis, as revealed by microsatellite typing
Fan, S.R.; Bai, F.Y.; Liao, Q.P.; Liu, Z.H.; Li, J.; Liu, X.P.
Sexually Transmitted Infections 84(2): 103-106
2008
ISSN/ISBN: 1472-3263 PMID: 17971371 DOI: 10.1136/sti.2007.025700Document Number: 199994
To compare genotypes of Candida albicans strains causing different conditions of vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) in Chinese women. C albicans strains were isolated from the vaginas of patients with different conditions of VVC. The genotypes of the strains were investigated based on single-strand conformation polymorphisms (SSCP) of the PCR amplified microsatellite locus CAI. A total of 93 independent C albicans strains was isolated from patients with mild-to-moderate (n = 37) or severe (n = 56) VVC. Thirty of the patients enrolled suffered recurrent VVC. Twenty-six distinct genotypes tentatively designated as A to Z were identified from the 93 C albicans strains compared on the basis of their CAI SSCP patterns. The majority (72.0%) of the strains possessed genotypes A to D, which were similar in the CAI SSCP profiles and were designated as the dominant genotypes. The overall frequencies of the four dominant genotypes were 87.5% (49/56) and 48.6% (18/37; p<0.001) in the C albicans strains from patients with severe and mild-to-moderate VVC, respectively. The strains with the dominant genotypes occupied 83.3% (25/30) and 66.7% (42/63; p = 0.094) in the C albicans strains from patients with recurrent VVC and sporadic VVC, respectively. The frequency of C albicans strains with the dominant genotypes (A to D) from patients with severe VVC was significantly higher than that from patients with mild-to-moderate VVC, implying that the CAI genotype distribution of C albicans strains correlates with the severity of VVC.