title: Antifungal Susceptibility Testing with Etest for Candida Species Isolated from Patients with Oral Candidiasis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The necessity of performing antifungal susceptibility tests is recently increasing because of frequent cases of oral candidiasis caused by antifungal-resistant Candida species. The Etest (BioMerieux, Marcy l'Etoile, France) is a rapid and easy-to-perform in vitro antifungal susceptibility test.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to determine the minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of antifungal agents by using the Etest for Candida species isolated from patients with oral candidiasis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-seven clinical isolates of Candida species (39 isolates of Candida albicans, 5 isolates of C. glabrata, and 3 isolates of C. tropicalis) were tested along with a reference strain (C. albicans ATCC 90028). The MIC end points of the Etest for fluconazole, itraconazole, voriconazole, and amphotericin B susceptibility were read after the 24-hour incubation of each isolate on RPMI 1640 agar.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All Candida isolates were found susceptible to voriconazole and amphotericin B. However, all five isolates of C. glabrata were resistant to itraconazole, among which two isolates were also resistant to fluconazole.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study revealed that the Etest represented a simple and efficacious method for antifungal susceptibility testing of Candida species isolated from oral candidiasis patients. Therefore, voriconazole and amphotericin B should be recommended as effective alternatives for the treatment of oral candidiasis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Dongguk University College of Medicine, Gyeongju, Korea.
authors.forename: You Bum
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Dongguk University College of Medicine, Gyeongju, Korea.
authors.forename: Moo Kyu
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Suh
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Dongguk University College of Medicine, Gyeongju, Korea.
authors.forename: Gyoung Yim
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Ha
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Dongguk University College of Medicine, Gyeongju, Korea.
authors.forename: Heesoo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kim
keywords: Candida; Etest; Oral candidiasis