Differentiation of Candida albicans, Candida glabrata, and Candida krusei by FT-IR and chemometrics by CHROMagar™ Candida.

Pathogenic Candida species are detected in clinical infections. CHROMagar™ is a phenotypical method used to identify Candida species, although it has limitations, which indicates the need for more sensitive and specific techniques. Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) is an analytical vibrational technique used to identify patterns of metabolic fingerprint of biological matrixes, particularly whole microbial cell systems as Candida sp. in association of classificatory chemometrics algorithms. On the other hand, Soft Independent Modeling by Class Analogy (SIMCA) is one of the typical algorithms still little employed in microbiological classification. This study demonstrates the applicability of the FT-IR-technique by specular reflectance associated with SIMCA to discriminate Candida species isolated from vaginal discharges and grown on CHROMagar™. The differences in spectra of C. albicans, C. glabrata and C. krusei were suitable for use in the discrimination of these species, which was observed by PCA. Then, a SIMCA model was constructed with standard samples of three species and using the spectral region of 1792-1561cm-1. All samples (n=48) were properly classified based on the chromogenic method using CHROMagar™ Candida. In total, 93.4% (n=45) of the samples were correctly and unambiguously classified (Class I). Two samples of C. albicans were classified correctly, though these could have been C. glabrata (Class II). Also, one C. glabrata sample could have been classified as C. krusei (Class II). Concerning these three samples, one triplicate of each was included in Class II and two in Class I. Therefore, FT-IR associated with SIMCA can be used to identify samples of C. albicans, C. glabrata, and C. krusei grown in CHROMagar™ Candida aiming to improve clinical applications of this technique.

Association of human papillomavirus and Chlamydia trachomatis with intraepithelial alterations in cervix samples.

The influence of different infectious agents and their association with human papillomavirus (HPV) in cervical carcinogenesis have not been completely elucidated. This study describes the association between cytological changes in cervical epithelium and the detection of the most relevant aetiological agents of sexually transmitted diseases. Samples collected from 169 patients were evaluated by conventional cytology followed by molecular analysis to detect HPV DNA, Chlamydia trachomatis, herpes simplex virus 1 and 2,Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Mycoplasma genitalium, Trichomonas vaginalis, andTreponema pallidum, besides genotyping for most common high-risk HPV. An association between cytological lesions and different behavioural habits such as smoking and sedentariness was observed. Intraepithelial lesions were also associated with HPV and C. trachomatis detection. An association was also found between both simple and multiple genotype infection and cytological changes. The investigation of HPV and C. trachomatisproved its importance and may be considered in the future for including in screening programs, since these factors are linked to the early diagnosis of patients with precursor lesions of cervical cancer.

Association of human papillomavirus and Chlamydia trachomatis with intraepithelial alterations in cervix samples

The influence of different infectious agents and their association with human papillomavirus (HPV) in cervical carcinogenesis have not been completely elucidated. This study describes the association between cytological changes in cervical epithelium and the detection of the most relevant aetiological agents of sexually transmitted diseases. Samples collected from 169 patients were evaluated by conventional cytology followed by molecular analysis to detect HPV DNA, Chlamydia trachomatis, herpes simplex virus 1 and 2,Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Mycoplasma genitalium, Trichomonas vaginalis, andTreponema pallidum, besides genotyping for most common high-risk HPV. An association between cytological lesions and different behavioural habits such as smoking and sedentariness was observed. Intraepithelial lesions were also associated with HPV and C. trachomatis detection. An association was also found between both simple and multiple genotype infection and cytological changes. The investigation of HPV and C. trachomatisproved its importance and may be considered in the future for including in screening programs, since these factors are linked to the early diagnosis of patients with precursor lesions of cervical cancer.