International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences | December 2017 | Vol 5 | Issue 12 Page 5117 International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences Erbaş G et al. Int J Res Med Sci. 2017 Dec;5(12):5117-5120 www.msjonline.org pISSN 2320-6071 | eISSN 2320-6012 Original Research Article Antifungal susceptibilities and identification of Candida species by using maldi-tof microbial identification system from cervicovaginal samples Göksel Erbaş*, Uğur Parin, Şükrü Kirkan, Süheyla Türkyilmaz, Serap Savaşan, Hafize Tuğba Yüksel, Sinem Öztürk INTRODUCTION Candida is a normal commensal organism in the vagina and cause vaginal yeast infection. The most common name of vaginal fungal infections is Vaginal Candidiasis (VC). Vaginal candidiasis is a common fungal infection that affects healthy women of all ages. There are many types of fungi that cause vaginal yeast infections. Among these fungi, the most common is Candida albicans, but there is increased awareness of the role of yeasts other than C. albicans such as Candida glabrata, Candida tropicalis, Candida krusei and Candida parapsilosis. 1 In recent studies, non-albicans Candida (NAC) species such as C. tropicalis, C. glabrata and C. krusei and C. parapsilosis have been frequently isolated. 2 This data, especially caused by non-albicans species in VC infections, may be due to many factors such as the use of over-the-counter antifungal, increase of high-risk patient populations and geographical differences. The responses of Candida species to antifungals vary. Therefore, determining the species distribution of Candida spp. is of great importance in the selection of antifungals. There are several ways to identify Candida species. Among these ways Rapid identification systems have been used in recent years. Identification of yeast Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Adnan Menderes, Aydın, Turkey Received: 22 September 2017 Accepted: 31 October 2017 *Correspondence: Dr. Göksel ERBAŞ, E-mail: gerbas@adu.edu.tr Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ABSTRACT Background: Among the vaginal diseases seen in women, candidiasis is in the first place. This disease, which is caused by Candida species, can sometimes persist very stubbornly. The aim of this study was to determine Candida species isolated from vaginal specimens by using VITEK MS (MALDI-TOF Microbial Identification System) rapid identification system and to evaluate their susceptibility to some antifungals. Methods: In this study, 220 cervicovaginal swab were used. Isolates were identified by VITEK MS rapid identification system. After identification, antifungal susceptibility testing was performed using the M-44 A2 guideline of The Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI). Results: Total 16.3% (36) of Candida spp. positivity was determined from 220 cervicovaginal samples, and 25 (69.4%) C. glabrata, 6 (16.7%) C. albicans, 3 (8.3%) C. kefyr and 2 (5.6%) C. krusei were obtained with Vitek MS. All identified C. albicans strains were found to be completely resistant to all antifungals used except nystatin agent, C. krusei strains were found to be resistant to flucytosine but sensitive to all other antifungals, C. glabrata and C. kefyr strains were susceptible to all antifungals within the antifungals used in this study. Conclusions: It is concluded that it is necessary to distinguish Candida species in order to apply a correct treatment. And species selection is very important for the selection of antifungal to be used. Nystatin is recommended if no laboratory tests are to be performed for the diagnosis of Vaginal Candidiasis. Keywords: Antifungal, Candida, Vaginal Candidiasis, Vitek MS DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20175429