The differentiation of Candida species (Robin, 1853) Berkhout 1923 isolated from persons with diseases of the lower airways Ró nicowanie gatunków rodzaju Candida (Robin, 1853) Berkhout 1923, wyodr bnionych od osób z chorobami dolnych dróg oddechowych

Introduction: In addition to viruses and bacteria, fungi, for example Candida species, are involved in the etiology of lower airways diseases. Fungal pathogenicity, including enzymatic activity, determines the course of infection. Candida’s hydrolytic exoenzymes play an important role in its colonization and invasion of human mucosa membranes. Aim of the study: Assessing: (1) the phenotypic features of different Candida species isolated from patients with lower respiratory tract diseases; (2) enzymatic properties of fungi allowing to determine codes, extracellular hydrolases enzymograms and their biotypes. Material and methods: Materials (sputum, bronchial secretions collected during bronchoscopy, BAL, urine, blood, throat swabs) were collected from patients treated in The Center and Rehabilitation Pulmonary Diseases in Lodz. The fungi were isolated and their species and biochemical properties were determined. Results: The 100 strains, which were isolated from the patients were classified into Candida (7 species) and Trichosporon (1 species). The dominant strain was found to be C. albicans, for which 9 of 50 marked code were found, the most frequent being 2576174. Analyzing the activity of 19 extracellular hydrolases, six enzymes were found to be active in all strains, five enzymes in most of them and none in eight 8; the most common biotype was biotype B4. Conclusions: Multiparameter studies allow the assessment of not only differences in morphological and biochemical phenotypes, but also the specification of important intraspecific features. Wide biological variation within species tends to take discriminatory testing, also at the molecular level.