Candida albicans serotype analysis by flow cytometry

Abstract

Candida albicans strains can be assigned to either of two major serogroups, A or B. Antigenic surface determinants present only in serotype A strains allow such a distinction, which has epidemiologic relevance. Reports have established that the relative distributions of the two serotypes can vary depending on the geographic origin of the isolates. A prevalence of susceptibility to an antifungal agent, flucytosine, was also observed with isolates of serotype A. More recently, it was suggested that the occurrence of serotype B isolates in various clinical forms of candidiasis is increasing. However, this latest finding remains controversial since serotyping results vary widely from one laboratory to another because of the lack of standardized methodologies. Difficulty in interpretation of results, which may lead to erroneous serotype identification, is the major setback associated with current methods. For this study, we thus devised a procedure that relies on flow cytometry and that may eliminate ambiguities in serotype determination. The validation of results was achieved with two types of serotype A-specific antisera, Iatron Factor 6 antiserum and an anti-C. albicans antiserum adsorbed on serotype B yeast cells. Agreement between results obtained with these two reagents was 100% with a wide array of Candida strains. These results confirmed the potential of the flow cytometric procedure as a reliable and reproducible method to establish the serotypes of C. albicans strains. Furthermore, some applications of this procedure to the epidemiological study of this human pathogen are presented.