Multiple molecular mechanisms contribute to a stepwise development of fluconazole resistance in clinical Candida albicans strains.

ABSTRACT: From each of two AIDS patients with oropharyngeal candidiasis, five Candida albicans isolates from recurrent episodes of infection which became gradually resistant against fluconazole during antimycotic treatment were analyzed for molecular changes responsible for drug resistance. In both patients, a single C. albicans strain was responsible for the recurrent infections, but the CARE-2 fingerprint pattern of the isolates exhibited minor genetic alterations, indicating that microevolution of the strains took place during fluconazole therapy. In the isolates from patient 1, enhanced mRNA levels of the MDR1 gene, encoding a multiple drug resistance protein from the superfamily of major facilitators, and constitutive high expression of the ERG11 gene, coding for the drug target enzyme sterol 1

SUBMITTER: Franz R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC106000 | biostudies-literature | 1998 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature