Virulence and adhesive properties of serotypes A and B of Candida albicans isolated from paediatric burn patients

1 Therapeutics Research, The Upjohn Company, 7923-190-MR, Kalamazoo, MI 49001 * Mycology Laboratory, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI 48197 Shriners Burn Institute, Cincinnati, OH 45219, USA Received August 24, 1990 Accepted August 19, 1991 The virulence and adhesive properties of 50 isolates of Candida albicans serotypes A and B collected over 6 years from 48 paediatric burn patients were examined to provide more detailed information about candidal pathogenesis in burn patients and to examine the relevance of the commonly used epithelial cell adhesion assay for determining fungal virulence. The isolates represented a fair distribution of serotypes (29 isolates were serotype A and 21 isolates were serotype B) and a total of 28 serotype-biotype combinations were found; 32% of the serotype-biotype combinations appeared only once, while 44% of the isolates showed similar biotype tests for two of three digits. Adhesion of the isolates to plastic and to buccal epithelial cells (BECs) was examined and compared after growth in a chemically defined medium. There were significant differences in the adhesion of individual isolates to plastic or BECs, but no correlation was found between biotype and adhesiveness. Serotype B isolates were found to be more adhesive to BECs (p