Isolation and Identification of Candida spp. Isolated from Renal Failure Patients

Abstract

Background: Candida species are perilous fungal pathogens that can cause various human infections. Accurate and timely identification of these fungi is crucial for appropriate treatment selection and effective disease management, Traditional methods for Candida species identification and characterization, such as phenotypic assays and culture-based techniques, have limitations in accuracy, time-consuming processes molecular methods have emerged as powerful tools for rapid and accurate identification and characterization of Candida species. The aim of this study was to isolate and identification and isolate Candida spp. associated with patients with End-Stage Renal Disease. Methods: 120 blood sample were collected from patient at end-stage renal disease Al-Imamin Al-Kadhimin Hospital in Baghdad city, The blood was taken from double-lumen or arteriovenous fistulas in patients who came to the hospital for dialysis in the morning as part of the regular monthly examination Eight ml of blood were taken from each participant (male and female) and divided into two separate tubes , Blood samples were cultivated on Sabroud Dextrose Agar (SDA), Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) and Chromogen agar .The plates were incubated at 28 ^oC for 24 hours, Then Microscopic and Macroscopic examination and to ensure diagnosis of Candida spp. using VITEK2 system and the genomic  DNA was extracted from Candida spp. isolated  using a commercial Wizard Genomic DNA Purification Kit (Promega ,USA) with some modifications. Results: The number of isolates of Candida spp. found in patients who did not receive dialysis was 13 isolates with a percentage of 21.66%. However, 23 isolates with a percentage of 38.33% were found in patients receiving dialysis. The following species were also indicated by Candida molecular diagnostics: Candida albicans, Candida glabrata, Candida parapsilosis and Candida tropicalis. All Candida species were registered with the National Centre for Technology Information. In addition, this study also identified three strains that were discovered for the first time at the molecular level in Iraq due to mutations. The critical NCBI accession numbers are: Accession numbers OR815974 and OR820558 were used to register C. albicans and C. glabrata, respectively. The identification numbers OR820540 and OR821996 were assigned to the species C. parapsilosis and C. tropicalis, respectively. Conclusion: The current study concluded that the most common pathogenic fungi in renal failure patient was C. albicans , Then C. tropicalis , C. glabrata  and C. parapsilosis.  These are reasons that increase the risk of infection with pathogenic fungi. The study has shown that molecular diagnosis is an ideal method for diagnosis at the species level cultured in Iraq, as some mutations in some Candida.