title: Molecular characterization of Candida isolates from intensive care unit patients, Krakow, Poland.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Over the last decades, Candida species have emerged as important pathogens in immunocompromised patients. Nosocomial infections are mainly of endogenous origin. Nevertheless, some cases of exogenous candidiasis have also been reported.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to evaluate the genetic relatedness between Candida albicans, Candida glabrata, Candida tropicalis, Candida krusei and Candida kefyr isolates recovered from intensive care unit (ICU) patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 132 Candida clinical isolates (62 C. albicans, 40 C. glabrata, 13 C. tropicalis, 11 C. krusei, 6 C. kefyr), obtained from specimens of endotracheal aspirate, urine and blood taken from patients of a tertiary hospital in Poland, were included in the study. Species identification was performed by PCR method and genetic relatedness was assessed by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA assay (RAPD) with five primers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The RAPD analysis revealed high genetic diversity among the studied Candida isolates, indicating that most of the strains were from endogenous sources. Only two clonal strains of C. glabrata isolated from different patients were observed, suggesting a possible cross-transmission of these pathogens.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study confirmed the high discriminatory power of the RAPD assay. This genotyping method can be applied to local epidemiological studies of Candida species.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland.
authors.forename: Marianna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Małek
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland. Electronic address: paulina.mrowiec@uj.edu.pl.
authors.forename: Paulina
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Paluchowska
authors.affiliation: Microbiological Laboratory, Department of Laboratory Diagnostics, Ludwik Rydygier Memorial Hospital in Krakow, Poland.
authors.forename: Bożena
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bogusz
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland.
authors.forename: Alicja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Budak
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002175:Candida / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011044:Poland; D019105:Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Candida; Epidemiology; Epidemiología; Genotipificación; Genotyping; Identificación; Identification; RAPD