title: Candida glabrata--unique features and challenges in the clinical management of invasive infections.
abstract: Candida glabrata is a pathogenic yeast with several unique biological features. This article provides an up-to-date review on current data and reasoning aspects of this clinically problematic organism. Haploidy, absence of pseudohyphae, facultative anaerobe growth of C. glabrata, as well as its intrinsically low susceptibility to azole antifungals require specific consideration in diagnosis and treatment approaches. As C. glabrata today represents a sizeable percentage of pathogens in candidaemia, the use of azole antifungals in upfront therapy of invasive yeast infections is discouraged by recent guidelines. While the selection of C. glabrata mutants with impaired susceptibility to echinocandins has been described, analyses of several clinical studies indicate an association of improved outcomes with the use of echinocandins as the primary treatment for invasive yeast infections with potential or documented involvement of C. glabrata.
authors.affiliation: BDH-Klinik Greifswald GmbH, Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Glöckner
authors.affiliation: Department I of Internal Medicine, Cologne Excellence Cluster on Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-Associated Diseases (CECAD), Clinical Trials Centre Cologne (ZKS Köln, BMBF 01KN1106) Center for Integrated Oncology (CIO Köln Bonn), German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: O A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Cornely
mesh_terms: D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001393:Azoles / Q000627:therapeutic use; D041221:Candida glabrata / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000502:physiology; D058365:Candidiasis, Invasive / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D025141:Drug Resistance, Fungal; D054714:Echinocandins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D009154:Mutation
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D001393:Azoles; D054714:Echinocandins
keywords: Candida glabrata; Candidaemia; azole antifungal; azole resistance; echinocandin; echinocandin resistance; fluconazole